A Skylit Drive- Adelphia

[likeroseswefall]

A Skylit Drive - Adelphia
Record Label: Fearless Records
Release Date: June 9, 2009

Adelphia, the third release from Lodi, CA based 6-Piece outfit A Skylit Drive, is by no means an original record, but the band does what it sets out to do and they do it relatively well. Blending in with the general pop-punk-screamo-whatever-core of today's music is something most artists tend to fall victim to. ASD bring their own brand of angst-ridden vocals, "brutal" screams, and crunching guitar riffs to the table. Sound familiar? It is, almost every second of it, but that isn't to say that its not an enjoyable listen. As someone who first forayed into the relative genre with underOATH's They're Only Chasing Safety way back when, this style of music is something I hold dear to my heart, so maybe I was pre-conditioned to like this album more than I should have.

Adelphia picks up where Wires left off, but instead of being a straight continuation of the boring formula implemented on that album of scream, sing, scream, the music is refined a bit more and the vocals remarkably improved. Frontman Mike Jagmin really takes the performance here with his clean singing, which is something I don't normally say. By using varied methods of delivery ranging from whispers to spoken word to soaring singing, he keeps the listener entertained enough to not switch to another CD midway through the album.

Brian White takes up the screaming part of the vocals, and does so with an air of command that Wires lacked so much. His effort has developed from whiny and high pitched to a more impressive and full scream. For evidence of this, simply listen to the tracks "Children Of Adelphia" and "Eva The Carrier."

As opposed to Wires, the momentum is kept up throughout this release, starting with "Prelude To A Dream," which to any fans of their previous efforts, will strike them as a definite improvement in all areas, especially the screams and clean vocals. The momentum slows a small bit with "Those Cannons Could Sink A Ship" which incorporates almost exclusively clean vocals layered over chugging guitars. "Heaven" and "Running With The Light" go by as generic tracks without many highlights and sort of blend into the rest of the CD. "Eva The Carrier" brings the tempo back up and is infectiously catchy and features some of the best placed and most well done screams on the album. The chorus is something you can sing along to, and it has a good blend of vocals, making it the best song on the album, followed by "The Children Of Adelphia." The next two tracks following a short interlude are standard ASD fare, and are neither good nor bad. "Air The Enlightenment" follows and is an acoustic piece featuring piano and a subtle drum beat in the background. Its mellow nature gives the listener a break for what follows, one of the album's highlight tracks, "The Children Of Adelphia." If ASD could craft all their songs along these lines, they'd be set for success. It has good screams that are placed in just the right spots, and fantastic vocal work from Jagmin. It is followed by two more-of-the-same stuff that is found between "Eva The Carrier" and "Air The Enlightenment." "See You Around" is a good enough track, but it doesn't feel like an album closer, leaving the listener with a sense that something's missing.

For all of the praise I have sung on this release, it is certainly plagued by the one major issue of being unoriginal in almost every way. A respectable album, but not very focused, which is to be expected considering that Wires was released only about a year ago. But for the short time-frame between albums, A Skylit Drive has matured more than I had expected and put out a decent CD.

www.myspace.com/askylitdrive (http://%5Bfs=Myspace%5Dwww.myspace.com/askylitdrive%5B/fs%5D)

[more heart]

I've yet to understand the appeal of this band.

[xapplexpiex]

Their last album is a guilty pleasure of mine. I like the contrast of the high pitch singing and heavy growls, even if the lyrics are cliche. I'm planning on picking this up along with the new Emery disc. Nice review.

[symbiote28]

im still on the fence on this one .. currently into only one song.

[simensays]

Ok, i said it once, i'll say it again. The E.P was good. Their first LP was decent, this sucks

[sweetfootaction]

Every song this band has made (after the first EP with the other singer) has sounded exactly the same.

[Trashcore]

Meh. Wires was okay. But I like maybe...2 songs on this cd? The rest is garbage. I'm not even a huge fan of those two songs. She watched the sky was awesome, catchy, diverse(as diverse as you can be in that genre) and had some pretty cool lyrics. Wires was mostly good songs with a few losses, but this cd was a big loss for me.

[WoodenSoldier]

Their last album is a guilty pleasure of mine. I like the contrast of the high pitch singing and heavy growls, even if the lyrics are cliche. I'm planning on picking this up along with the new Emery disc. Nice review.
this

[Smeee]

Eugh this CD is awful. As many have already said, the band clearly peaked with their first EP and have gone downhill ever since. To be fair to you though, your actual review is pretty good. I just completely disagree haha.

[mymusicismylife]

I haven't liked them since the EP, same as most other people.

[TestwoodRapier]

I still can't understand how that voice isn't coming from a female.

[npmshah]

I've yet to understand the appeal of this band.
understandable
the high voice isnt for everyone, and has to grow on you
i was turned off from this band because of the hig voice up until a month before this release...
then something clicked and i just LOVED jagmin's vocals
i was thinking of reviewing this myself, tbh...

[fadedmemories]

I've yet to understand the appeal of this band.
This x infinity

[npmshah]

Eugh this CD is awful. As many have already said, the band clearly peaked with their first EP and have gone downhill ever since. To be fair to you though, your actual review is pretty good. I just completely disagree haha.
i thought the EP was kinda weak...
it had one or two of their best songs,for sure, but it wasnt as good as some tracks on both "Wires" and 'Adelphia"

[Klatzke]

Piss poor excuse for an album. Seriously one of the most boring, cliche and generic albums I've ever heard.

[Romancebled]

no offense, but this is probably one of the worst albums i've heard all year.

[Smeee]

i thought the EP was kinda weak...
it had one or two of their best songs,for sure, but it wasnt as good as some tracks on both "Wires" and 'Adelphia"
Yeah, the EP is far from a masterpiece... but at the time, I really enjoyed it. It was definitely an immature record and fairly generic but I still enjoyed it more than their two newer releases.

Kudos for the Anberlin fanboy-ism though :-)

[more heart]

understandable
the high voice isnt for everyone, and has to grow on you
i was turned off from this band because of the hig voice up until a month before this release...
then something clicked and i just LOVED jagmin's vocals
i was thinking of reviewing this myself, tbh...
Oh no, believe me, I like clean singers with higher voices(Jonny Craig, Zack Dawson, etc.). Jag's voice seems so forced. It's like he sings high just for the sake of singing high like every other band out there right now.

[TriangularDuck]

this CD is crazy great. I wasn't mad on it the first 5 or so listens, but it's grown on me so much.

[TotalCollapse]

Their EP was the better of the three albums. They've gone downhill.

[npmshah]

Yeah, the EP is far from a masterpiece... but at the time, I really enjoyed it. It was definitely an immature record and fairly generic but I still enjoyed it more than their two newer releases.

Kudos for the Anberlin fanboy-ism though :-)
haha thanks... i am the BIGGEST anberlin fanboy out there... haha
there was this one song on their EP ( i forget the name) where they are all speaking together
and it sound so effing cool,

[npmshah]

Oh no, believe me, I like clean singers with higher voices(Jonny Craig, Zack Dawson, etc.). Jag's voice seems so forced. It's like he sings high just for the sake of singing high like every other band out there right now.
i dont think he forces it :shrug:
he might be a natural high and then make his voice sound a LITTLE higher, but thats like saying Claudio from Coheed forces his high voice...
Jags voice is SO much higher than Craig, i would put it in the same balpark as Coheed and Soasin-era Anthony Green...
and i know ASD doesnt sing to fit in because Jag has said in interviews "we get alot of crap for having such a high clean vocalist but we dont care. Theyll come around eventually"
of course, i am paraphrasing, but that is the essence of what he said

[more heart]

i dont think he forces it :shrug:
he might be a natural high and then make his voice sound a LITTLE higher, but thats like saying Claudio from Coheed forces his high voice...
Jags voice is SO much higher than Craig, i would put it in the same balpark as Coheed and Soasin-era Anthony Green...
and i know ASD doesnt sing to fit in because Jag has said in interviews "we get alot of crap for having such a high clean vocalist but we dont care. Theyll come around eventually"
of course, i am paraphrasing, but that is the essence of what he said
No, he's really that bad. He really does force it and it comes across as fake. Even though Jordan wasn't great, this band was better off with him rather than Jag.

[npmshah]

No, he's really that bad. He really does force it and it comes across as fake. Even though Jordan wasn't great, this band was better off with him rather than Jag.
oh well to each his own i guess :shrug:
i personally dont see the fakeness in his voice but whatever

[chelseaxsmilexD]

is the like roses we fall name of yours a tribute to bmth? taking like roses we blossom and die to like roses we fall? mine is obviously, i mean cheleseaxsmilexD is about as bmth-ey as it gets.

[chelseaxsmilexD]

Oh no, believe me, I like clean singers with higher voices(Jonny Craig, Zack Dawson, etc.). Jag's voice seems so forced. It's like he sings high just for the sake of singing high like every other band out there right now.
true


personally i like screamers like Oli Sykes and "what's his face from Chiodos" I forgot his name. And I like singers that sound like Sksk, and DGD ()not saying they sound anything alike, they don't) but his sounds like he wants to sing as high and girly as he can like Inhale Exhale (in my opinion I.E. sounds like Pink went metalcore!)

[more heart]

true


personally i like screamers like Oli Sykes and "what's his face from Chiodos" I forgot his name. And I like singers that sound like Sksk, and DGD ()not saying they sound anything alike, they don't) but his sounds like he wants to sing as high and girly as he can like Inhale Exhale (in my opinion I.E. sounds like Pink went metalcore!)
We're primarily talking about clean singing so Oli really doesn't fit the discussion. While I do enjoy Criag's(Chiodos vocalist) voice, he can be a bit whiny at times. There's definitely no contest as far as Dance gavin Dance goes, both vocalists they've have had have been outstanding. Personally, I'm not too big on Scary Kids Scaring Kids so I would'nt say I find their vocalist talented or enjoyable. As far as Inhale/Exhale goes, I completely disagree. The guy has a great voice and isn't whiny or too high in terms of his range.

[chelseaxsmilexD]

We're primarily talking about clean singing so Oli really doesn't fit the discussion. While I do enjoy Criag's(Chiodos vocalist) voice, he can be a bit whiny at times. There's definitely no contest as far as Dance gavin Dance goes, both vocalists they've have had have been outstanding. Personally, I'm not too big on Scary Kids Scaring Kids so I would'nt say I find their vocalist talented or enjoyable. As far as Inhale/Exhale goes, I completely disagree. The guy has a great voice and isn't whiny or too high in terms of his range.
I guess the Oli thing doens't fit in. And Craig (Chiodos) does have somewhat of a whiny voice, you do have to admit, it goes with the atmosphere of the band. Jesus wishes he was Johnny Craig. And Inhale Exhale, I'm sorry but when I heard my first song from them, at times I was like, "Did Pink go metalcore?" to me it sound like her at a lot of points, but not all of them.

[chelseaxsmilexD]

Originally Posted by more hearthttp://images.absolutepunk.net/images/buttons/arrow.gif (http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?p=45861832#post45861 832)
We're primarily talking about clean singing so Oli really doesn't fit the discussion. While I do enjoy Criag's(Chiodos vocalist) voice, he can be a bit whiny at times. There's definitely no contest as far as Dance gavin Dance goes, both vocalists they've have had have been outstanding. Personally, I'm not too big on Scary Kids Scaring Kids so I would'nt say I find their vocalist talented or enjoyable. As far as Inhale/Exhale goes, I completely disagree. The guy has a great voice and isn't whiny or too high in terms of his range.

Also, I actually don't like Dance Gavin Dance's vocalist on the second album. It didn't work like it used to, especially on songs like Alex English and Buffalo! The only reason worth buying that album is Me And Zoloft Get Along Fine. Their new album is great though. Downtown Battle Mountain will reign supreme however because of the scream-siong method used in a somewhat original way with fast rasping.

[more heart]

I guess the Oli thing doens't fit in. And Craig (Chiodos) does have somewhat of a whiny voice, you do have to admit, it goes with the atmosphere of the band. Jesus wishes he was Johnny Craig. And Inhale Exhale, I'm sorry but when I heard my first song from them, at times I was like, "Did Pink go metalcore?" to me it sound like her at a lot of points, but not all of them.
I'm sorry but the whole "sounds like Pink went metalcore" is complete bullshit. I have I Swear... and the vocalist just has a high range.

[chelseaxsmilexD]

listen to the opening track... the .... vs being a man one... and really listen and think Pink, just think about it and it sounds like it.

[more heart]

listen to the opening track... the .... vs being a man one... and really listen and think Pink, just think about it and it sounds like it.
Not at all. Aside from the fact he screams, he sings somewhat rough at times and when he doesn't, it' done high in the vein of Akissforjersey.

[TotalCollapse]

:rotfl:

[likeroseswefall]

Yes its a bmth reference. Also, ive seen ASD live twice, and believe it or not, Jag's voice is naturally this high. It isnt autotuned to sound like that... its really how he sings. While this band might not be amazing, they do put on a hell of a show.

[more heart]

Yes its a bmth reference. Also, ive seen ASD live twice, and believe it or not, Jag's voice is naturally this high. It isnt autotuned to sound like that... its really how he sings. While this band might not be amazing, they do put on a hell of a show.
Nobody said he used auto-tune. I just said his voice is annoying and terribly generic.

[Rhen]

i love ASD they are by far one of my favorite bands if your not into the whole screaming thing then your definitely not going to like it. for example everybody loves ATL i absolutely HATE ATL. Because that's not the type of music i like...

[Dubui_209]

Apparently this band is from Lodi? Hate their music, but they sat next to me during the Transformers Midnite showing. Very cool people.

[Miwwa]

Why do people visit pages of a bands they say are "crap" and talk shit? If you dont like them why the hell are you on there page.

[chelseaxsmilexD]

i love ASD they are by far one of my favorite bands if your not into the whole screaming thing then your definitely not going to like it. for example everybody loves ATL i absolutely HATE ATL. Because that's not the type of music i like...
u also said you liked brokeNCYDE. Excuse me for not trusting your opinion wholeheartedly mis "crunk kid"

[rass]

I love it.
Jags voice is one of the best out there. Jordans was/is good to but Jags, is just top notch.

[Billy Black]

i think the reviewer said it all.
unoriginal.
but the people who are loyal to the genre will find the album appealing.

personally, i get drawn in when i hear great male soprano.

good review.

[winter-ame]

understandable
the high voice isnt for everyone, and has to grow on you
i was turned off from this band because of the hig voice up until a month before this release...
then something clicked and i just LOVED jagmin's vocals
i was thinking of reviewing this myself, tbh...

lol. Jag's voice has been with me from the start! Love his voice, though not as much as Craig from Escape the Fate. Though ASD is one my personal favorite bands!

[codyWHRR]

Good, but I deffinately do like Wires and the Concepts of Breathing album alot better. but it's still A Skylit Drive!

[Rickaly]

Ok, i said it once, i'll say it again. The E.P was good. Their first LP was decent, this sucks
agreed!

[bernard8366]

She Watched the Sky is the best work A Skylit Drive have produced. Wires and the Concept of Breathing was also decent, but they have really let themselves down with Adelphia. Although some songs like 'Prelude to a Dream' and 'Those Cannons Could Sink a Ship' are good, as a whole, Adelphia is very typical and mediocre.

[MichaelCarnahan]

I have to say. While I will admit this album is generic and nothing new, the contrast of screams/clean vocals really hooked me in. I can pop it in and listen to maybe 1 or 2 thirds of it every couple months or so.

What I was disappointed to hear nothing about in this review, however, was the drumming. I find it to be THE best part of this album (as well as the last one). The kid is good.

[SonicSyndicate]

Think i am the odd one out here....
Got the album not to long ago and I really enjoy it...
I Have not heard their other stuff i was introduced to them through this album,
Maybe its a good thing i heard it first..