Review Summary: Stick to Your Guns claim that their albums will keep getting better until they disband, this album serves only to support that claim.
Now, unfortunately, the opening track actually starts out quite weak; with average singing, forgettable backing vocals and a failed attempt to create atmosphere. However, about 1 minute in, when “It starts with me” begins to be chanted, Stick to Your Guns get a hold of themselves and the song really begins to bring the atmosphere that it should have provided from the beginning.
From track 2 on, the album is a consistent powerhouse of good music from start to finish. I do not mean to say that this is a particularly heavy album. In fact, it’s STYG’s leas heavy album to date. The band have lost some aggression in this album, compared to its predecessors, however they make up for this with far more structure songs, moving away from a classic ‘80’s hardcore approach and taking a more metalcore approach to song structure whilst maintaining hardcore instrumentation and vocals.
This reduction in aggression, of course, means that clean vocals are far more prominent in this album. These vocals are far more consistent in standard than previous releases; however they lack the sheer power that sparseness gifted them in previous albums. Although the cleans are good, there isn’t a song like “Amber”, “Where the Sun Never Sleeps” or “Beyond the Sun” that make you want to scream your heart out to. A particular song notable for excellent clean vocals is “The Crown”, which is just so overflowing with emotion that it makes you teary.
Features in this album include Walter Delgado of Rotting Out, Toby Morse of H2O and Scott Vogel of Terror. All 3 provide crushing performances, with Delgado’s in “Nothing You Can Do TO Me” sticking out to me because it’s just so catchy.
“I Choose Nothing” provides the classic destructive straight up hardcore style of STYG song that long-time fans will appreciate.
“Left You Behind” is the softest STYG have ever been that isn’t an interlude. They pull this song off well and, although it doesn’t hit my heart as hard as “The Crown”, it’s still a good attempt at a ballad.
In the end, the album provides something for all STYG fans, it provides reminiscence of the aggression of older albums and it provides a more structured melodic approach for those looking for more substance in their hardcore. Stick to Your Guns blend these styles very well and maintain their hearts on their sleeves and their message soaring out your speakers throughout.
