Klatzke
07/02/08, 05:46 PM
36 Crazyfists - The Tide and Its Takers
Record Label: Ferret Records
Release Date: May 27, 2008
If you know one thing about 36 Crazyfists, it should be that they're from Alaska. Being the only metal group (or well, any genre actually) that I know of hailing from Alaska, it already gives me the urge to respect them. However, I'm getting in on this a tad late, since The Tide and Its Takers is their fourth full-length release.
The album itself is hit or miss, to say the least. There are some quality songs, but at the same time, there are songs that just leave you with a bad impression. For example, the first song, "The All Night Lights," is an amazing track; they perfectly balance their powerful screams with astounding vocals and clean shouts. "We Gave It Hell" features yelled/shouted (along with a few powerfully-placed screams) and impressive instrumentation. "Clear the Coast" is some tough-guy metal at it's best, and "Waiting On a War" is an impressive display of their clean vocals. "Absent Are the Saints" is a fairly hard track, and easily the heaviest on the album, while it also contains some of the best musicianship from the album. "Vast and Vague" changes styles up a few times, but comes out as one of the strongest tracks from the album.
Unfortunately, for what there is good, there's also bad. While some of the songs pull off the alternative "tough guy" vocals, (akin to Metallica and Seether), some of the songs fail at it, with the title track and "Northern November" being prime examples. Mostly clean vocals, "Northern November" is just, for lack of a better word, bad. The title track, however, does so in epic proportions. A soft and melodic track, it attempts to end the album in the same way as so many other metal albums do nowadays.
Overall, this is a good release, and there are some especially strong tracks here. However, the few songs on this album that are bad bring the whole album down. If this record was more consistent, it would have been a completely amazing release. Hopefully, for their next album, 36 Crazyfists can bring themselves together and release something that will blow me away. Until then though, I'll just have to use the skip button in a few places.
Atreyu's Lead Sails Paper Anchors, He is Legend's Suck Out the Poison
myspace.com/36crazyfists (http://www.myspace.com/36crazyfists)
Record Label: Ferret Records
Release Date: May 27, 2008
If you know one thing about 36 Crazyfists, it should be that they're from Alaska. Being the only metal group (or well, any genre actually) that I know of hailing from Alaska, it already gives me the urge to respect them. However, I'm getting in on this a tad late, since The Tide and Its Takers is their fourth full-length release.
The album itself is hit or miss, to say the least. There are some quality songs, but at the same time, there are songs that just leave you with a bad impression. For example, the first song, "The All Night Lights," is an amazing track; they perfectly balance their powerful screams with astounding vocals and clean shouts. "We Gave It Hell" features yelled/shouted (along with a few powerfully-placed screams) and impressive instrumentation. "Clear the Coast" is some tough-guy metal at it's best, and "Waiting On a War" is an impressive display of their clean vocals. "Absent Are the Saints" is a fairly hard track, and easily the heaviest on the album, while it also contains some of the best musicianship from the album. "Vast and Vague" changes styles up a few times, but comes out as one of the strongest tracks from the album.
Unfortunately, for what there is good, there's also bad. While some of the songs pull off the alternative "tough guy" vocals, (akin to Metallica and Seether), some of the songs fail at it, with the title track and "Northern November" being prime examples. Mostly clean vocals, "Northern November" is just, for lack of a better word, bad. The title track, however, does so in epic proportions. A soft and melodic track, it attempts to end the album in the same way as so many other metal albums do nowadays.
Overall, this is a good release, and there are some especially strong tracks here. However, the few songs on this album that are bad bring the whole album down. If this record was more consistent, it would have been a completely amazing release. Hopefully, for their next album, 36 Crazyfists can bring themselves together and release something that will blow me away. Until then though, I'll just have to use the skip button in a few places.
Atreyu's Lead Sails Paper Anchors, He is Legend's Suck Out the Poison
myspace.com/36crazyfists (http://www.myspace.com/36crazyfists)