Black Veil Brides – Set The World On Fire
Release Date: June 14, 2011
Record Label: Lava/Universal Republic
Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. There’s only one reason why this album is being reviewed on this website and it’s because of this:
Those, um, less-than-modest words come to your eyes courtesy of the proclamations made by Black Veil Brides “vocalist” Andy “Six” Biersack, speaking with what I’m sure was a humble look in his eyes behind about 10 pounds of eyeliner and whatever else they sell in makeup stores. Biersack was speaking about the atrocity that is Set The World On Fire – Black Veil Brides’ second release and first for a major label, via Lava/Universal Republic.
A lot can be said about preexisting mindsets, and I went into my first listen of Set The World On Fire prepared to endure the worst. Reminiscent of that one time I listened to an Attack Attack! record, I braced myself from the very first listen, and canyoublameme? But the first spin through was surprisingly listenable. Instead of reverting to some other album after the first few songs, I was able to grin and bear it through 11 tracks of wannabe rock and roll music paired with gag reflex-inducing metal influences and screams. However, after my surprisingly not-awful first listen, the layers began to peel back on the putrid creation that is Set The World On Fire.
Opener “New Religion” has a fancy little guitar riff that maybe sorta legitimizes why Biersack had such a profound man-boner for himself when he heard the mastered version of his new album. The heavily produced sound of Set The World On Fire is largely a melting pot of the mainstream rock bands that serve as the punch lines of jokes fused with metal stylings found in the guitar work and screams. Biersack doesn’t scream all that much on Set The World On Fire, but when he does it’s an extremely uncomfortable experience.
The gang vocals on “New Religion” and the rest of the album are also laughable at most times and the only redeeming part of this record is the guitar work. Sure, it’s cool to hear a sweeping or tapping solo in the first song because you think it’s with the purpose of creating a high-energy opener, but essentially the same exact solo is in every single song. Not only do you hear a guitar solo in every song, but oftentimes you have two extremely similar solos in the same track. Needless to say, the musicianship becomes exhaustingly repetitive after about 15 minutes. The album doesn’t just bleed together – it’s almost like Set The World On Fire was written as one 42-minute “fuck you” to all the respectable music in the world.
If you want audible proof of just how little this album is worth, listen to “Saviour,” which will surely undergo a radio edit that launches this band to a new level of superstardom among middle-schoolers and easily amused high school scenesters. A string-laden and acoustic-y introduction leads into Biersack totally showing how emotionally vulnerable he is and stuff in the verses. In case you didn’t see it coming, there is (spoiler alert) a heavy part at the end involving lots of lol-core screams and an awful breakdown. After that, the album continues on its steady course of predictable song structures before mercifully ending with “Youth And Whiskey.”
The best thing I can say about this record is that it isn’t one of the worst albums I’ve ever heard. It’s bad, but there is way worse music out there today. The thing that makes this record horrible, however, is how widely embraced it will be. Sure, you’ll have awful bands release awful albums and play awful live shows to a mid-sized venue, but this awful band will release this piss-poor record to a potentially much larger audience. Kids might hear it on the radio. Kids might go see this band at a show and be introduced to other bad bands. Black Veil Brides could be the group that sets back part of a generation of youngsters from hearing worthwhile music for years.
Of course, that’s just my opinion and maybe I’m overreacting, but at least I’m not taking myself as seriously as Black Veil Brides are taking themselves. Because that quote at the top of this review, and the fact that someone said that in an interview and believed it, is at least as much of a travesty as Set The World On Fire itself.
My iPod classic currently holds 120 gigs of recorded farts, and nothing else. Question: if I added this album to my iPod, would I be thrown off or disturbed if any of these Black Veil Brides songs came on random or would it fit right in?
Just sucks for the kid listening to this music and reading this review and seeing someone call all the music that he listens to bad or shitty or not respectable. That's what turns kids into major assholes
/in before someone says it sucks for the kid just because he listens to that music
Those pictures were pretty ridiculous. Especially the Christmas one. Isn't there a chick or two in this band? I really cannot tell which one(s) would be a female.
Just sucks for the kid listening to this music and reading this review and seeing someone call all the music that he listens to bad or shitty or not respectable. That's what turns kids into major assholes
/in before someone says it sucks for the kid just because he listens to that music
If it sucks, it sucks. No sense censoring yourself so a fan doesn't get hurt. Not everyone loves what you love, and the sooner kids realize that, the better for everyone.
That said, not sure why it's even worth the time to write a review for something you loathe that nobody on the site was probably very interested in hearing anyway.
If it sucks, it sucks. No sense censoring yourself so a fan doesn't get hurt. Not everyone loves what you love, and the sooner kids realize that, the better for everyone.
That said, not sure why it's even worth the time to write a review for something you loathe that nobody on the site was probably very interested in hearing anyway.
I'd be interested in hearing the best record anybody's ever made.
So I just listened to Saviour and it wasn't THAT bad, apart from the godawful screeching at the end. I was expecting so much worse. Saviour could probably be slapped into any Bullet for My Valentine album and nobody would be any the wiser.
As for that album artwork though...I think these guys deserve Simple Plan's trophy for worst album artwork.
Browse Reviews
Write a Review
Alphabetized Listing
Popular Reviews
Best New Music
View Artist Profile
View News Articles
Stream the Music
Buy the Album or MP3s
View Signature
Posts: 151
View Blog
View Profile Picture
Follow This Review
More Reviews By This Author