Album Review
Woe, Is Me
Genesi[s] (2012)
1) D-Day
2) FYI
3) A Story To Tell
4) With Our Friend[s] Behind Us
5) Nothing Left To Lose
6) The Walking Dead
7) I Came, I Saw, I Conquered
8) Call It Like You See It
9) I've Told You Once
10) Family First
11) Nothing Left To Lose (Acoustic)
Woe, Is Me's debut album 'Number[s]' was excellent. For me, the main reason for it getting stuck in my head was the awesome blend of hardcore and electronic elements and the unique voice of Tyler Carter. The poppy vocal aerobatic style was a fantastic juxtaposition to the heavy rhythms and Michael Bohn's aggressive screaming vocals. It was interesting, it was different, and the entire album rolled together in a short but very enjoyable blend of hooky passages and crushing breakdowns that frequently makes it on to my playlists.
Since 'Numbers' they've lost both vocalists, Tyler Carter and Michael Bohn, along with brothers Cory and Ben Ferris (keyboards and bass).
So, new members, new album and a new beginning? Lets hope not...
"Hey guys, lets all grab a notepad, write all the ideas we can in 5mins, throw them in the hat, then randomly pull them out, tape them together, plaster some immature whinging about how much we hate our previous members for ruining the only originality we had and maybe we'll make our album deadline!"
Look, this entire album just reeks of a band in trouble. The talent is there, all the new members have plenty of promise and skill, but they need to let go of all feudal rubbish and get back to the music.
Former 'That's Outrageous' screamer Doriano Magliano opens the album with a barrage of unrelenting aggression that certainly grabs your attention. While he doesn't have a very unique sound, It's not a bad effort from the newcomer. For the timbre of his voice his annunciation is pretty good, with a reasonable amount of clarity. The real trouble is the lack of range, half way through track 3, you've had more than enough of his sound and are just begging for the clean vocal breaks for the remainder of the album.
Clean singer Hance Alligood certainly has a great voice, and a terrific range (even besides the terrible over exposure to vocal effects). He is sorely underused in this album, but the parts that he does have can sound cluttered with too many vocal aerobics and harmonies happening all at once. There are a few saving grace moments like 'A Story To Tell' where he really carries the rest of the band, pulling it from the mundane.
Lyrically, 'Genesi[s]' is rubbish. Full of cliche's, immaturity and a relentless barrage of insults thrown at ex-members. Like this gem from 'I've Told You Once': "You're so proud of the one-liners you wrote. It must be hard to talk shit with a dick in your throat". I mean really, are YOU proud of the one-liners YOU wrote? I thought the genre was better than this, scratch that, the genre IS better than this! It's stupid bullshit like this that gives heavy music a bad name. Besides this, lyrical content is a broken record about how much better they are than the previous members, blah blah blah - to be honest I stopped caring half way through. The 'Vengeance' single got the point across perfectly, there is simply no need to go on and on about it for a whole album - It doesn't make the previous members look bad, It just makes the current line-up look inspirationally drained.
Unfortunately there's nothing really mentionable here either. The drums are very uninspiring with the vast majority being repetitive with the constant over use of the same fills. This isn't really a complaint againt Austin Thornton's drumming, more a comment on the general laziness shown in this album. Guitar and bass efforts are weak. There's a lot of relentless chugging and the interesting melody lines that riddled 'Number[s]' have all but disappeared.
As a musician, and music lover I understand that all music is derivative, but sometimes you just can't help but think that an idea has been stolen. One of the only interesting riffs in the entire album is almost an exact copy of Periphery's 'Icarus Lives!'. What's worse is in both cases the riff starts the song, making it completely obvious. Poor form.
This is just such a disappointing effort from a band that showed such promise on their debut. I think one of the most ridiculous things is that so many of the lyrics are declarations of being something different and something better, when in reality, it's the exact opposite. Everything on this album is a lazy and will unfortunately lead it to being tossed on the "maybe later" pile. While they all may be talented, the only real stand out here is Alligood and he keeps this album from being a complete disgrace. For some die hard fans, none of the above will matter, you'll still punch randoms in the pit to an incredible amount of breakdowns. For big fans of 'Number[s]' and the people searching for something different however, 'Genesi[s]' certainly isn't the answer.
'Genesi[s]' - 4/10
'A Story To Tell'
So, new members, new album and a new beginning? Lets hope not...
First Impressions...
Look, this entire album just reeks of a band in trouble. The talent is there, all the new members have plenty of promise and skill, but they need to let go of all feudal rubbish and get back to the music.
Vocals...
Former 'That's Outrageous' screamer Doriano Magliano opens the album with a barrage of unrelenting aggression that certainly grabs your attention. While he doesn't have a very unique sound, It's not a bad effort from the newcomer. For the timbre of his voice his annunciation is pretty good, with a reasonable amount of clarity. The real trouble is the lack of range, half way through track 3, you've had more than enough of his sound and are just begging for the clean vocal breaks for the remainder of the album.
Clean singer Hance Alligood certainly has a great voice, and a terrific range (even besides the terrible over exposure to vocal effects). He is sorely underused in this album, but the parts that he does have can sound cluttered with too many vocal aerobics and harmonies happening all at once. There are a few saving grace moments like 'A Story To Tell' where he really carries the rest of the band, pulling it from the mundane.Lyrically, 'Genesi[s]' is rubbish. Full of cliche's, immaturity and a relentless barrage of insults thrown at ex-members. Like this gem from 'I've Told You Once': "You're so proud of the one-liners you wrote. It must be hard to talk shit with a dick in your throat". I mean really, are YOU proud of the one-liners YOU wrote? I thought the genre was better than this, scratch that, the genre IS better than this! It's stupid bullshit like this that gives heavy music a bad name. Besides this, lyrical content is a broken record about how much better they are than the previous members, blah blah blah - to be honest I stopped caring half way through. The 'Vengeance' single got the point across perfectly, there is simply no need to go on and on about it for a whole album - It doesn't make the previous members look bad, It just makes the current line-up look inspirationally drained.
Drums, Guitar and Bass...
As a musician, and music lover I understand that all music is derivative, but sometimes you just can't help but think that an idea has been stolen. One of the only interesting riffs in the entire album is almost an exact copy of Periphery's 'Icarus Lives!'. What's worse is in both cases the riff starts the song, making it completely obvious. Poor form.
Verdict...
This is just such a disappointing effort from a band that showed such promise on their debut. I think one of the most ridiculous things is that so many of the lyrics are declarations of being something different and something better, when in reality, it's the exact opposite. Everything on this album is a lazy and will unfortunately lead it to being tossed on the "maybe later" pile. While they all may be talented, the only real stand out here is Alligood and he keeps this album from being a complete disgrace. For some die hard fans, none of the above will matter, you'll still punch randoms in the pit to an incredible amount of breakdowns. For big fans of 'Number[s]' and the people searching for something different however, 'Genesi[s]' certainly isn't the answer.
'Genesi[s]' - 4/10
Only have time for a song or two?
'A Story To Tell'
Previous Albums
 |
| 'Numbers' (2010) |
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