Review Summary: Kickstarting with "We All Have Demons", transitioning with "My Devil In Your Eyes", and reaching perfection with the newer album "Know Hope".
With the release of their debut album, We All Have Demons, and sophomore album, My Devil In Your Eyes, The Color Morale has now released Know Hope. This album takes all of the liked qualities from the first album and amplifies them to the peak of perfection. There are always some criticisms and always room for improvement but when compared to the first records this album comes close to perfect.
When hearing the beginning track “Burn Victims” a more mature quality compared to music from the previous projects. Heavy and fast riffs from the guitars, hard beats from the drums, and emotional singing from Garrett Rapp. The track also brings the notice of Rapp’s unclean vocals being as deep and intense as in the earlier times.
“Learned Behavior” was the track that featured one of the best, if not, the best chorus on Know Hope. Opening with a fast riff and Rapp’s screaming. The chorus beginning with hollow chants and Rapp beginning to vocalize some of the best lyrics I’ve heard on any metalcore album. “Sometimes it’s good to build walls. Not to keep anyone out. But see who cares enough to knock them down.”
“Strange Comfort” is also a track that brings to light the more intense instrumentals performed by the band. It starts calmly at first then transitions to heavier sounds as Rapp begins singing. The song also begins to speed up shortly before the chorus and Rapp begins to scream and scream the lyrics the song reaches the chorus. This song had shown like “Learned Behavior” and “Burn Victims” a chorus with feeling and good lyrical content.
Songs like “Silver Lining” and “Steadfast” continue to show these qualities. The album than takes a transition at the song “Hole Hearted”. Though this song still matches the feel from the rest of the album it stands out more because of Rapp showing off his skills to sing cleanly as well. His voice has a certain scratchy sound with an expressive tone making it perfect on the ears.
Know Hope brings the Color Morale out of the category of cliché metalcore bands. Of course nothing is without flaw, but when pertaining to this album those issues are very minor. The album highlighting incredible melodies, catchy choruses, heavy instrumentals, clean vocals, and unclean vocals. The band has certainly raised their status in metalcore genre.
