Across Five AprilsOkay, so these guys are from Chattanooga, TN and have been around since 2001 and in that time they have released three full lengths, this being the most recent. Apparently, they have patented the "Scenic City Hardcore" sound, what that means, I have no idea.
This band likes to mix things up on this 10 track album, throwing in everything from emo, pop-punk, some hardcore elements, and even some more rocked out elements into their songs, which averages 3 through 4 minutes long. Yeah, it sounds a lot more crazy in words than the actual sound because god knows how many bands have done it in the past and still attempt, many have failed and very few have been able to pull it off. Usually it comes off sounding like a bunch of unnatural and contrived nonsense that does nothing but confuse and agitate the listener, and this band was guilty of that earlier in their career, shoving breakdowns where they didn't belong, and implementing sloppy metal riffing that just didn't work. That's not to say that the band doesn't have some moments here and there, but for the most part they couldn't hold my attention.
This time around however, they scaled down their approach to song writing considerably, rather than trying to cram as many riffs into a song as they could, they have focused more on the actual song writing side of things. Although there are still some of those boring and trite metal riffs that rear their ugly head here and there, they are less frequent and don't stick out nearly as much. There are still plenty of crushing breakdowns but they don't sound nearly as forced on previous efforts. And it's nice to see that the band has decided to use the clean vocals more this time around then from their albums because the screaming seemed really forced. I never thought I would actually be saying that I'd prefer clean vocals to screamed, the hardcore shouts here and there actually aren't too bad though.
The lyrics are pretty mundane. For the most part all of things are about telling an ex-love to fuck off. But I guess it's better than lyrics crying for the girl back.
The production is alright but there are some thing I would've changed. First, the cymbals sound absolutely terrible on the drums, the guitar tone gets drowned out a lot in parts of the songs, and the bass tone is nowhere to be found throughout the majority of the album. The vocals sound real good though.
The layout isn't too shabby, and plus it's a good indicator of what you will be listening to. The cover art is actually pretty cool, it's got a city skyline with a yellow sky, below that is the same skyline in rubble, obviously tying into the title of the record, "Collapse". I like the approach to the layout of the booklet. When you fold out the booklet it displays the thanks you's and credits in an old English font contrasted over a blue background, the booklet then folds out into a mini poster with a band photo placed over the lyrics. Another thing I'll give these guys credit for is that they actually look like guys! No herb ass 50 dollar haircuts, not girls pants or make up. So I commend them for that.
Rating: 2.5/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Sunnyland and Showdown With Arrows
Thesis: It's not terribly bad, but it's not my kind of thing. At least these guys don't dress like girls though. And props to them for maturing in their song writing.