Eighteen Visions have done something very weird with this album. Previous album, Obsession (2004), re-tooled their sound for something more commercial, yet still edgy. This eponymous release sees the band changing their sound yet again.With this album, the band have trodden a path of more conventional song-writing and more rock-oriented, distancing themselves yet further from the hardcore scene that spawned them. Take, for example, “Truth Or Consequence”, which is a great, conventional and catchy rock song. Perhaps the best on the album.
“Broken Hearted” is pure pop. That, in itself, will likely scare a number of kohl-wearing boys off this album straight away, but in actual fact, it’s not a bad song. Bordering on saccharine-sweet, with the young-choir singing “You left me a little bit broken-hearted”, the song is still very listenable.
The choir-like choruses seem to be a new-found love of the band, cropping up not only on “Broken Hearted”, but also opening track “Our Darkest Days” and “Burned Us Alive”.
There are still songs that bear a great deal of resemblance to those found on Obsession, however, so the band probably won’t completely alienate their existing fans. “Pretty Suicide”, “Victim” (which has nice mosh-pit stomp potential, and is the well-chosen first single - check out the cool video on their MySpace) and “Black And Bruised” are notable examples of this. There’s plenty of deep, rumbling bass, too. These bottom-heavy moments offset the more poppy moments very well.
If marketed well, this album could potentially reap them a huge number of new ones, though – just as Avenged Sevenfold’s City Of Evil (2005) reaped them oodles of critical- and fan acclaim (for an album that was actually rather mediocre, if not completely sub-par, in my mind).
This is a really good album. Catchy, well written, full of memorable melodies, with some pleasantly heavier parts, and a very modern, competent rock sound. But, the band is probably going to annoy a number of their long-term fans… Which would be a real shame, as they’d be missing out on a very good album.
Not to worry, if people are able to grow with their favourite bands (something seemingly lacking in the rock and metal community) then Eighteen Visions have produced an album that should have them laughing all the way to the bank, with an increased fan-base.
Good stuff. Certainly much better than the bands who seem to receive all the attention these days (My Chemical Romance, Aiden, et al.). Well worth your hard-earned pennies.
No comments:
Post a Comment