This Was Always Meant to Fall Apart, Scarlet�s resurrection, is the epitome of a beautiful mess. Hell, the band itself is a mess. Member changes and multiple thefts are just some of the scars.
But when they say what doesn�t kill you only makes you stronger, they were referring to Scarlet. Some consider this a comeback album, some consider this a studio attempt for the band to remind us all that they still exist, but more importantly, this album adds to the evolution and strengthening of the band and the brand of music they excel in.
The songs on this album seem to have a yin-yang effect. We get blisteringly heavy, fast, and many times technical metal/hardcore inspired intros as well as choruses while the singer screams midrange lyrics. This is the yin in the equation. The yang part is a more relaxed rhythm within the same song, where the guitars and drums are playing softer and simpler. An unusual chord progression chimes softly as the singing, usually multiple recordings, takes the foreground. The melodies are drawn out, each note ever important, and don�t follow any diatonic scale I know of. The fact that these melodies hold intelligibly and correspond with the guitar lines is amazing; these guys know standard music well enough to write melodies that avoid every rule.
This album goes off like a fireworks display; it is explosive, bombarding, and colorful. The heaviness of the album has mostly straightforward rhythms but also flickering nuances brought on by augmented chords and divergent guitar licks. For the most part the balance between chaos and order in the songs is not only balanced, it is bridged and transitioned. You can feel the song naturally lead from thrashing disorder into strum-sing structure, even though you and I have never heard songs like this before.
This Was Always Meant to Fall Apart is another solid Ferret Records release. Fans of Every Time I Die (circa Hot Damn) and Boys Night Out will have a lot of fun with this one.
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C.L. '06 |
