Matthew Tsai
11/14/08, 04:33 PM
Haste the Day - Dreamer
Record Label: Solid State Records
Release Date: October 14, 2008
Dreamer is Haste the Day's second album with vocalist Stephen Keech. Now, while I used to love Pressure the Hinges, it's safe to say I've moved on from modern metalcore - I only checked out Dreamer for the slight nostalgic value it contained. What I heard neither "pleasantly surprised" or "utterly disappointed" me; instead, the album sounds like metalcore's last stand before its imminent death. Dreamer is a solid scream/sing disc that will get you grooving to some accessible rock, but ultimately has little lasting value.
"68" says "let the album commence!" with lyrics such as, "I am the one you will call the destroyer / The messenger of my disgrace" laid over "wicked" riffs. I'm treated to an "infectiously" sung chorus just 30 seconds into the disc, followed by one of those "windy" screams that come close to becoming pig squeals. You can already infer two things by the amount of descriptive quotation marks in those two sentences: 1. Metalcore has been described to death, which can only mean this album probably sounds like every other metalcore album and 2. True to point 1, Dreamer sounds extremely similar to Pressure the Hinges, besides Keech's slightly evolved screams. Otherwise, all the instruments are déjà vu.
Tracks 1-8 are octuplets in terms of sound. Few things distinguish one song from the other, besides "Invoke Reform's" head-bobbing intro. If you're looking for generic, easily accessible hard music to just have fun 2-stepping or Polka dancing or whatever it is they do to music these days, you might as well pick up this album. Just remember to start winding down as soon as "Sons of the Fallen Nation" starts; the lethargic but cute "Labyrinth" will throw you off. Then, "Porcelain" brings an encore of the typical Haste the Day style before shutting things down with "Autumn."
I'd like to take a moment to discuss "Autumn." On an album of cookie-cutter tunes, "Autumn" shocked me. It's one of those slow, gorgeous acoustic songs that catches people off guard and throttles them by the neck roaring "how dare you call this album 'cookie-cutter'?!" Keech's southern accent does get in the way a little bit, but other than that, I was at a lost as to what to do after the beauty ended. Whoever wrote this song, please take time off from the band to record a solo project - I will definitely buy it.
So in conclusion, Dreamer is nothing more than safe metalcore and a beautiful ballad. You don't really need a suggestion as to whether to acquire it or not; you already know what it sounds like. There are bands out there that have the potential to revive this genre, but if this album is any indication of the direction it's taking, consider metalcore as good as dead.
Underoath; As I Lay Dying; All That Remains
myspace.com/hastetheday (http://www.myspace.com/hastetheday)
Record Label: Solid State Records
Release Date: October 14, 2008
Dreamer is Haste the Day's second album with vocalist Stephen Keech. Now, while I used to love Pressure the Hinges, it's safe to say I've moved on from modern metalcore - I only checked out Dreamer for the slight nostalgic value it contained. What I heard neither "pleasantly surprised" or "utterly disappointed" me; instead, the album sounds like metalcore's last stand before its imminent death. Dreamer is a solid scream/sing disc that will get you grooving to some accessible rock, but ultimately has little lasting value.
"68" says "let the album commence!" with lyrics such as, "I am the one you will call the destroyer / The messenger of my disgrace" laid over "wicked" riffs. I'm treated to an "infectiously" sung chorus just 30 seconds into the disc, followed by one of those "windy" screams that come close to becoming pig squeals. You can already infer two things by the amount of descriptive quotation marks in those two sentences: 1. Metalcore has been described to death, which can only mean this album probably sounds like every other metalcore album and 2. True to point 1, Dreamer sounds extremely similar to Pressure the Hinges, besides Keech's slightly evolved screams. Otherwise, all the instruments are déjà vu.
Tracks 1-8 are octuplets in terms of sound. Few things distinguish one song from the other, besides "Invoke Reform's" head-bobbing intro. If you're looking for generic, easily accessible hard music to just have fun 2-stepping or Polka dancing or whatever it is they do to music these days, you might as well pick up this album. Just remember to start winding down as soon as "Sons of the Fallen Nation" starts; the lethargic but cute "Labyrinth" will throw you off. Then, "Porcelain" brings an encore of the typical Haste the Day style before shutting things down with "Autumn."
I'd like to take a moment to discuss "Autumn." On an album of cookie-cutter tunes, "Autumn" shocked me. It's one of those slow, gorgeous acoustic songs that catches people off guard and throttles them by the neck roaring "how dare you call this album 'cookie-cutter'?!" Keech's southern accent does get in the way a little bit, but other than that, I was at a lost as to what to do after the beauty ended. Whoever wrote this song, please take time off from the band to record a solo project - I will definitely buy it.
So in conclusion, Dreamer is nothing more than safe metalcore and a beautiful ballad. You don't really need a suggestion as to whether to acquire it or not; you already know what it sounds like. There are bands out there that have the potential to revive this genre, but if this album is any indication of the direction it's taking, consider metalcore as good as dead.
Underoath; As I Lay Dying; All That Remains
myspace.com/hastetheday (http://www.myspace.com/hastetheday)