Wait In Vain"Seasons," the long overdue debut full length from this Seattle straight edge outfit that features a seasoned cast of members that includes Roger Kilburn (Sinking Ships, Stay Gold, Love Is Red), Scott Jacobsen (Set Your Goals), and of course Timm McIntosh (Trial, Champion). It's been over three years since the band released their demo and while it took them some time they finally solidified their line up with drummer Alexei Rodriquez, who spent time in Trail.
The album is composed of ten tracks, and includes the tracks from the demo in re-recorded form ("Q and.....," "Forget Me Not," The Fix," and "White Picket Fence") with six new tracks.
The band hasn't strayed from their melodically tinged 90's metallic hardcore sound but they have certainly grown into their sound. Throughout the album they do a stellar job of incorporating the more straight ahead hardcore riffs with the hard hitting metallic breakdowns, and the melodic choruses.
The opening track "Another Year" is my favorite of the album and has an awesome, unexpected moment at about 2:25 that has an ever so slight hip hop feel to it with a nice hint of melody. It is the unexpected little moments like those that make this album so good. Granted there are some spots during the album where things seem a bit repetitive but the band does enough in the right spots to keep things interesting.
Another stand out track is the title track which opens up with the sound of lighting and rain until a nice little melodic riff jump starts the song. Then another one of those awesome moments appear during the middle of the song with some nice guitar and bass work
The talents of Trial's Greg Bennick have certainly rubbed off on McIntosh, who in my opinion, is one of the best lyricist in the current day hardcore scene. McIntosh covers a variety of topics; questioning the existence of God and the importance of religion ("Q and..."), the struggle of coping with a friend that took his life ("Seasons"), the rat race in which society at large engages in, in order to gain status and material possessions ("Passions Just Like Mine" and Puritan"), and a truthful and very relevant song about how hardcore is regressing rather than progressing ("Another Year").
The center piece of the layout is a striking picture of storm clouds fighting the blue sky. The full picture is spread out over both the front cover and back tray as well as the front and back of the booklet. Inside the booklet are other similar pictures, just over different landscapes.
Rating: 4.2/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: "Another Year," "Seasons" & "Passion Just Like Mine"
Synopsis: Though this is really only an EP worth of new material, the six new songs were well worth the wait. Plus the demo songs re-recorded sound much better. And even with some repetitive moments, the band still has written an album worth replaying. Timm McIntosh's lyrics alone make this album worth purchasing.
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