Review Summary: I'll catch my breath.
Remix albums and remixes in general,
especially for a rock band, are very hit or miss. But really, is this a surprise? Taking a genre that is predicated upon being heavy and raw and putting it through mass production doesn’t really seem like a good idea. But, shockingly, it has been done right. RED remixes, especially the “Death of Me” and “Run And Escape” remixes, are a lot of fun. TFK managed to shift “We Are”, one of the band’s edgier tracks, into a fun dance anthem that still retained a fair bit of an edge. Jasen Rauch worked magic on his remix of Love and Death’s “The Abandoning”, and Seether’s “Fur Cue” remix proved to be at least a fun diversion. (As a sidenote, I’m not saying these remixes are superior to the original, I’m just saying they are done well). But then there’s always the clunkers, such as
Skillet’s Awake and Remixed project that even devoted fans panned. Even though an electronic backdrop to say the least was always part of Falling Up’s alt-metal sound (though they are fully atmospheric now), there was a great chance for
Exit Lights to fall flat on its face, especially considering it would be pulling some of its material from the flunk-out that was
Crashings. Did it? In this opinion, no.
For starters, the original version of “Fearless” off of
Dawn Escapes bored me and just came off as filler. Replacing the distorted guitar riffs and slightly harsher vocals with an atmospheric sheen, slight programming, beautiful keyboards, and soothing vocals was a fantastic choice and just makes the track so much more memorable. Jesse sounds much more comfortable in this zone(renamed “Fearless (250 And Dark Stars)” ), there’s actually some presence from Falling Up bassist Jeremy Miller, and the guest vocals. Wow, the guest vocals. First, we are greeted to the beautifully imperfect voice of female vocalist Troma, then we get the haunted crooning and some rapping from TFK vocalist Trevor McNevan. It’s also interesting to note that Trevor does a brief rap at the end of the track, the same rap that would later turn into the chorus for the group’s 2009 fan favorite “Shook”. “Exit Calypsan”, here renamed “Exit Calypsan (Into The Ice Cave)", feels darker and slightly harder and stands out much more than the original, and I detect a definite Starset vibe. “Moonlight”, under the capable hands of FF5’s Solomon Odds, becomes “Moonlit (Neon Predator)”, and it’s one of the most interesting tracks on the project. The verses and pre-chorus are definitely toned down, but the chorus features aggressive vocals and some fairly heavy riffing that feels like it’s tuned much lower than the original track. But the track really takes off in the second half. Solomon takes an aggressive rap and even throws in some aggressive screams, giving the track an almost rapcore feel that even RATM might be proud of.
There are also a few non-remix tracks on the project that are worth noting. “Islander” may be one of the first tracks to put the drums fully on display, but the drumwork throughout is fantastic and easy to bob your head along to. Stylistically, it’s not quite hard rock, but it’s not fully falling into their atmospheric side either. Regardless, the soaring chorus is beautiful, combining Jesse’s earnest vocals with a wall of distorted power chords. The verses also feature some cool keyboard-work and cleanly picked guitar. Put simply, the whole song is just gorgeous, and the lyrics do a fantastic job of getting you immersed in the track without being too far out there. “Circlewinds” is a fairly foreboding track, one that wouldn’t sound out of place in a horror or sci-fi movie with it’s darkly tainted strings and icy keyboard line. Also, the ending is pretty scary and will send a chill up your spine. “Third Lake” would probably make Tim Burton cry with ecstatic joy as it eerily veers between creepy keyboards and softly angelic strings.
This is a sea of positives, but there’s still a few negatives. For one, the remixes of all of Crashings and some of Dawn Escapes are pretty unforgettable. Also, though the music is fantastic at parts, the emotional connection is fairly lacking and this seems like it would be enjoyed from a more intellectual standpoint than a heartfelt one.
Still though, you can feel the hard work put into this record, and you can hear that the group had a lot of fun crafting the atmospheric rockers. There may not be too much of an emotional connection, but this is still worth checking out, even if only from a musical standpoint
