EmmureNew Fairfield, CT's Emmure are yet another band in Victory's staple of mosh happy bands along the lines of Bury Your Dead. Their first EP I cannot lie was pretty good but I think that was due in part because it was short and left you less time to get bored. Plus the songs were crafted better.
There are a few moments where the band shows they can write a pretty cool melodic riff here and there and can actually take a moment and step away from the breakdown, like in the song "You Got A Henna Tattoo That Said Forever". But other than that it's a bunch of breakdowns mashed together with discordant toppings. The vocals are pretty fucking bad ass until the guy starts using the whole Eighteen Vision handbook. It also seems like they were trying to fill space with the instrumental track "Travis Bickle" and the completely useless hip hop track at the end. I mean I like hip hop just not necessary.
AHH! WHY?! Why the fuck does there need to be ten songs about a fucked up relationship and then to top it off with the whole killing yourself bullshit. These lyrics are why metalcore has become such a joke. There is no substance anymore.
You know these guys are getting pushed by Victory, they got mother fucking ZEUSS to record this. This thing has massive low end that really makes the breakdowns sound fucking huge. The dropped b guitars sound about as heavy as it gets. The bass fills out the mix nicely. Good vocal placement. The drums sound blazing, great driving double bass and a good tone on the snare.
It's such a shame that such a dope layout got wasted on this steaming pile of shit. The front cover has a cartoon drawing of a ghostly looking guy looking at his own body as it hangs from the gallows. The inside of the booklet was done exceptionally well. It consists of a five page scene where on page one the guy first hangs himself and the soul is face down on the ground. The second page the guy realizes he's a ghost. The third page shows the ghost looking at himself as he hangs from the noose. The fourth page shows him waving goodbye to himself and then on the final page he ironically enough shoots off into heaven. It was cool also that they put the lyrics underneath it to make it look like a story. I would like to see this concept used more just a shame the reason the dude killed himself was because he's a pussy.
Rating: 2/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: You Got A Henna Tattoo That Said Forever and Sleeping Princess In Devil's Castle
Synopsis: This band almost singlehandedly made me tired of breakdowns which I thought would never happen because I'm a sucker for a well done breakdown. It's just too much though when the whole song is written around breakdowns and there is maybe 20 seconds in any given song where there is an actual riff. The vocalist displays great range in the highs and lows but his poor attempts at clean singing bring to mind James from Eighteen Visions. Not a good thing. Lastly, ss a wise man once said, "Stick to EP's".