Review Summary: Worth the second glance.
There are a lot of modern rock bands out there. And in a sense, this is a positive. Modern rock is able to cater to everyone. You’ve got your straight up hard rock like Nickelback, Shinedown, and 3 Doors Down. You’ve got more of an alt-metal/symphonic take with RED, Breaking Benjamin, and Starset. Some bands like Red Sun Rising or 10 Years take a more progressive take on the genre. The point is, this genre is able to touch anyone with plenty of subgenres. The downside, however, is that there are so many modern rock bands waiting under the shadows of the aforementioned giants. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not shaming these giants (I love both RED and BB to death), but it’s cool to occasionally give some of these smaller bands credit too. Awaken is one of these bands, falling much closer to the symphonic take on the genre.
Ironically enough, this band is from a small town close to the Nashville, Tennessee area, which is where RED calls home. Listening to this band, I just can’t help but hear a less-matured version of RED. It’s not necessarily pure copycat, but it is undeniably there. The passionate vocal approach both in singing and screaming from Chad Griffin, the way that the guitar riffs intersect with the orchestral and programming arrangements, the ambiguous yet bold lyrics, even just the general song structures all scream RED. Granted, though, it’s not pulled off with near as much finesse, but it’s a cool take on modern symphonic rock that RED largely helped pioneer.
The record hits a heavy start with two straight-up rockers leading the charge in “The Narrow Door” and “Fathom”. Both tracks contain strong riffing, fantastic vocals (Chad is easily the standout of this group), thrashing drums, and both orchestral and electronic arrangements. “Fathom” also features the vocal talents of Trevor from Thousand Foot Krutch, who strengthens the chorus with his urgent vocals but somewhat hurts the bridge with an out of place rap. Then comes “The Passerby”, a more sanitized electronic rock track. There’s a grooving 4 on the floor drum beat, glitzy synths, more passionate vocals, and some nice inter-blending between the axes and the snyths. This almost brings to mind a track like “Buried Beneath” from RED’s
Until We Have Faces or
Meteora-era Linkin Park. “Darkness Disappears” is an intense, deeply emotional mid-tempo rocker that blends acoustic guitar and calming piano with heavy riffs and a bombastic vocal performance effectively, managing to still grab the listener’s attention halfway through the album. “Inertia” is the first true ballad with a softer vocal performance and some nice acoustic guitar picking to boot, and it actually manages to convey real emotion without feeling forced or ripped off, another good quality the band got from RED. “This Is Farewell” follows up as another mid-tempo rocker that is carried by grooving bass, heart-thumping drums, a wall of distorted guitar, and an extremely in-your-face vocal performance that is guaranteed to grab your attention. Speaking of that vocal performance, there’s some fantastic screaming wrecked throughout the bridge. “Ghost Writers” ends the record on a heavy, riff-centric note that also features more urgent vocals, punky drums, and a nice underlining keyboard melody.
Despite all of this, there are still some flaws. First, three out of ten tracks here are just filler and easily skippable. Let me put it this way: like RED, Awaken has some well-executed ideas present here. Unlike RED, Awaken uses these ideas over and over again to the exact same effect, without blending in some of the tried-and-true tropes of the genre. Let me give an example: RED’s debut album
End of Silence featured some extremely unique moments. “Let Go” is undeniably intense yet also blends in a soothing string orchestra for the knockout climax, for example. But on the same album, the band went to a track like “Wasting Time”, much more of your basic war anthem that most bands would just butcher and absolutely killed it due to their songwriting potential and general maturity. I feel that Awaken has at least a glimmer of said maturity, but just aren’t sure how to use it and use the same symphonic rock structure over and over. Lyrically, the strongest moments to be found are in “Ghost Writers”, “The Passerby”, and “Inertia”.
I cannot stress this next point enough: this is the band’s first album. I’m giving it a 3.5. And I can say with absolute certainty that this band skyrockets over both Skillet and Pillar while giving Disciple and Thousand Foot Krutch a run for their money. It’s clear there’s plenty of potential. If the band can cut down on some of the repetition and beef up the guitar riffs a little more, they could turn into a major head in the rock scene.
