Review Summary: With a full-length album packed with well-written metalcore, excellent vocals, brilliant electronics, and some boldly experimental songwriting, I See Stars puts their drive for innovation and improvement on full display. While not every song lands as wel
I didn't discover I See Stars until after they released Treehouse, but even when Digital Renegade came out, it should've been clear that the band was placing experimentation over consistency. Their first effort, 3-D, was a very well-received post-hardcore album with electronic tendencies. It wasn't technically as heavy as later works, but its sheer intensity and consistent style made it perfect for more hipster-like I See Stars fans. Many of the album's qualities carried over into their next album, The End of the World Party.
Despite that fact, a lot of fans were disappointed in it. Much of this had to do with the brighter sound of the album. In some ways, it was heavier, but the influence that was taken from pop punk made it sugary and even saccharine at times, despite a few songs and moments being genuinely dark.
Given this situation, it seemed like I See Stars could gravitate more toward their original sound or retain their brighter and more colorful style. Perhaps they could do a combination of both. Instead, though, they opted to do neither. It's hard to figure out where to start with Digital Renegade because while it sounds enough like an I See Stars album, it's more than just another step for the band. It was, rather, a giant leap forward.
On this album, the members submerge themselves in loud, dense, edgy, and aggressive metalcore while balancing it with bigger, better, and more experimental electronic sound effects and synthesizers. The soundscape the band creates is vivid and layered, almost cluttered but organized in a way that is logical and consistent.
The drums are typical of the metalcore sub-genre, and they're perfectly serviceable. The guitars do a few interesting tricks here and there, but they're usually written to be more foundational than anything. The rhythm guitarist sometimes churns out some nice riffs but typically sticks to power chords and breakdowns. The bassist just follows the rhythm guitar and adds a little extra weight. The lead guitar typically does whatever the rhythm guitar is doing unless it's soaring over it with somewhat airy guitar leads.
While all the aspects of a solid metalcore foundation are here, it's the talents of the vocalists that elevate Digital Renegade above its contemporaries. Zach Johnson's harsh screams and growls already go above and beyond the standard for the genre, but where he really shines is with his electronics. He adds all sorts of extra elements to flesh out the songs, ranging from light synthesizers to harsh noises. Sometimes Zach's screams will be distorted in order to match some of the harsher sounds he generates, and the other instruments will be affected by various transitions between segments of songs. (They'll even drop out completely from time to time.) Finally, clean vocalist Devin Oliver tops everything off with a soaring voice in a range that's so high-pitched that it would make Kellin Quinn blush at times. In fact, the two singers sound quite similar, but Devin seems to handle his parts more easily, and he actually sounds good with some autotune due to the overtly electronic style of music that he sings.
With all of these different elements coming together complete with slick production from Joey Sturgis, I See Stars had a recipe for success. Still, they needed excellent songwriting to bring the delicacy to our plates, and, thankfully, they had that covered as well. Digital Renegade isn't exactly packed with masterpieces, but there are some standouts, and everything else is very solid. I have sorted all ten tracks into four categories. In order of best to worst, they are as follows: amazing songs, other excellent songs, songs with guest features, and filler songs.
There are only two songs that I consider amazing, and they also happen to be the very first songs on the album. "Gnars Attacks" is one of those album openers that fires on all cylinders, rocketing right out of the gate with the sound that will be fleshed out throughout the other nine tracks. The moment play is pressed, one can hear a marching-band-style snare beat as well as a rousing chant and synthetic orchestra. It starts out quiet and build until an all-out assault on the eardrums is released. Its structure is atypical, going through a number of phases in its relatively standard runtime. It manages to avoid disorienting listeners by providing thoughtful transitions between passages and echoing certain ideas. Regardless, it's very wild, and keeping up with it would be a chore if it weren't very catchy and powerful all throughout. Still, even it can't top the next song, "NTZ48." It fades in at the beginning as well, but before you know it, you're being slammed by one of the simplest and yet catchiest riffs ever written. The song's structure is a bit more typical this time around, but that just makes it more palatable. Devin Oliver's vocal melodies on the chorus are even catchier than they were on the last song. (In fact, an infectious chorus is the one thing that "Gnars Attacks" lacks). The lyrics and tone of the song remind me of coldrain's "Words of the Youth," and both are executed at least as well as they were on that song, as much as I adore it. If you're going to check out just one song from Digital Renegade, listen to "NZT48." There's even an official lyric video for it on YouTube, so you don't have to spend a cent. With these powerful anthems, the rest of the album could've been mediocre, and it would have still been memorable.
While no other songs measure up to the openers, there are still some other excellent songs. The third song on the album, "Digital Renegade," definitely deserves praise. It has a somewhat brighter tone, retaining the atmosphere of the other songs while bordering on the type of brightness that The End of the World Party frequently displayed. It has a sober tone, but at the same time, it's a pretty feel-good song, at least until the brutal breakdown at the end, which somehow manages not to be jarring. "Filth Friends Unite" is of a similar level of quality, though in different ways. It's similar to "NZT48" in terms of its lyrics, which really play up the renegade theme. It has an entertaining structure filled with entertaining breakdowns and melodies throughout. The beginning and ending each contain the same ominous synth lead followed by a well-executed breakdown, both at modest tempos. In between them, however, are catchy choruses, a unique breakdown, and an electronic interlude, all played much more quickly. While I personally don't adore these songs as much as the others that I've mentioned, they help make Digital Renegade memorable and worth praising due to the band's experimentation when making them.
While there aren't any other five-star songs on the album, the rest of the material ranges from good to great. The best of these songs, coincidentally, happen to be the ones with guest vocalists. The first one is "Endless Sky [feat. Danny Worsnop]." Danny's feature doesn't really add anything to the track. All of his parts could've been replaced by Zach Johnson. The two growlers are actually quite similar in style, so I couldn't even tell who was screaming at times. The only interesting part with Danny was a section toward the end when he screeched in sync with a dissonant guitar part. The main reason why I like this song is that it has a handful of interesting ideas like that and is otherwise just a fun and exciting track from the band. As fun as "Endless Sky" is, however, it pales in comparison to "Electric Forest [feat. Cassadee Pope]." Cassadee is a great asset to the song because her vocals are just as high as Devin's, yet they have a sweet and girlish quality to them. Hearing the two effectively use their voices together is pure bliss. The instrumentation complements this sweet, blissful tone by using major chords in its progression and containing moments where some or none of the heavy instruments are playing. Still, while used modestly, there are some relatively heavy moments in the song. Also, the atmosphere that Zach Johnson creates adds depth and should keep those who maligned The End of the World Party's bright tone satisfied. I will admit that the heavier parts did feel a bit drowned out and that the vocal melodies could've been a bit catchier. Still, I would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who is interested in hearing it.
Finally, we have the filler songs. The term "filler" can mean flat-out mediocre songs, but Digital Renegade is completely devoid of those. Instead, I'm applying this term to songs that are good but not great. Most of them aren't really unique, but there is one exception. "iBelieve" is a purely electronic track featuring Andrew Oliver, the drummer of I See Stars, on vocals. He's perfectly adequate and has a slightly different quality to his voice from Devin, his brother. He repeats the same few lines in the beginning, and then the song picks up and his vocals become more distorted. During this section, he is backed by a drum machine and various layers of synthesizers. The tone of the song is bright and soothing, kind of like "Electric Forest." The blend of instruments is intelligent, though I still think there was a bit too much focus on the drums and bass. Towards the end of the song, the drums disappear, and everything fades away. Because the vocal parts are kind of minimalist, and because the instrumental is built only to back those vocals, I can't say that "iBelieve" is great. However, it is an interesting and somewhat recommendable track. I realize that I haven't even mentioned the other three filler songs, but there isn't much to say about them. They each have slightly different ideas, but they still sound like typical post-hardcore songs with some extra electronics. Aside from the mid-song breakdown in "Summer Died In Connersville" (a song which was otherwise a little extra bland), there aren't any really interesting ideas. Don't get me wrong, though; they're all perfectly decent songs. They even have a bit of a 3-D flavor to them. Give each of them a chance if you get this album.
I do think that I See Stars could have put a little more time and effort into packing their album with top-notch material, but with more than half the album filled with interesting and exciting songs and the rest being perfectly solid, Digital Renegade is a pretty fantastic release. With lush soundscapes populated by amazing sound effects on top of truly aggressive instrumentation, all arranged intelligently and topped off with well-executed vocals, it's just begging to be enjoyed. I would recommend this album to anyone who's into post-hardcore, metalcore, harsh electronic music, a little bit of everything, or any combination of the four. It's worth your time.
