Review Summary: Congrats, PTV
After two extremely underwhelming efforts, PTV really needed to step it up, and create their own sound. No longer did they need to be known as a band that sounded exactly like SWS and Chiodos. With the release of
Collide With The Sky, hopefully they would finally step up their game. Did they? Admittedly, yes, as this is the best record they have released to date.
The entire band feels reinvigorated, cutting out all the pretentious cheese that plagued both
Selfish Machines and
A Flair For The Dramatic. Vic sounds strong and passionate without veering into annoying and overly boyish, while both he and lead guitarist Tony Perry seriously improved for this album. More credit should go to Vic than Tony, as he finally moved beyond simply chugging along, and managed to craft some really nice riffs (check “Hell Above” and “King For A Day” for some good examples). Even the percussion section gets some press, but sadly not quite enough to add to the album as a whole. The same goes for the bassist. As for the album itself, it’s the most focused Pierce The Veil have been their entire career. They don’t veer off on drawn-out, unnecessary interludes (a la AFFTD and SM), but instead hit hard, fast, and then retreat as if they were never there. Rather than leaving the listener unsatisfied, this may honestly be the best quality of CWTS.
Indeed, songs like “Hell Above” and “A Match Into Water” are heavy and bruising, waking the listener up early on in the album. As many know, “King For A Day” features Kellin Quinn on guest vocals, leading some weak screams but strong cleans to an already-strong track. The rapid, furious punk energy of “Bulls In The Bronx” lends to one of the group’s best songs to date, while both “Props & Mayhem” and “Tangled In The Great Escape” have some fantastic guitar leads and are proficient mid-tempo tracks. Those who enjoyed the more contemplative nature of the band’s earlier material will love slow-burners “One Hundred Sleepless Nights” and “Hold On To May”. From these tracks only, it’s easy to infer that the band has matured greatly.
Vic and Tony experienced the most improvement for this record, but don’t totally leave out the drummer and bassist, as both give barely above average performances. Though there is some filler, there’s really no moments on the record that are straight-up boring, whereas both SM and AFFTD had virtual sleep-fests at parts. Lyrically, don’t expect much. The band tends to focus mainly on hedonism (“King For A Day”), struggles with lost love (“Hell Above”), and sex (“Hold On To May”).
This was honestly an impressive album, and not underwhelming in the least bit. If you’re going to listen to PTV, this record needs to be your first choice. For once, they managed to truly do something right. Congrats, PTV.
