Review Summary: An exciting and simple album that was meant for just a fun listen.
Does the peculiar band name "Time Traveller" ring a bell to you? Or does the unusual album artwork look very familiar? And you just can't put your finger on where you saw or heard it from... If you answered yes to any of those two question then you probably stumbled across this band while you were listening to your typical Rise-Core/guilty pleasure bands while on youtube. This recently released EP has it's mark everywhere on the "Related List" on youtube maybe because the producer of Memphis May Fire and Sleeping With Sirens, Cameron Mizell created this album. And Yes, this album sounds pretty much like Memphis May Fire. But of course there are some more details to be added, so let's get to it!
Why this bands stands out more than the other hundredths of Post-hardcore/Metalcore acts out there is not because the creator of the EP has a little bit of power and recognition around the genre, it's because the EP is actually very solid. The formula of creating this EP was nearly perfect for creating the typical Rise-Core band. They got the 1st ingredient right and it's something I personally look for when listening to new bands in the scene, the clean vocals on this album are superb. Take the range of a decent vocalist like Matty Mullins and then having the ability to stretch his singing rage to a person with smaller testicles like Kellin Quinn or Richard Rogers would describe the vocals on this album. The harsh vocals on the other hand are lacking. No range at all and it's also difficult to pick out what he's trying to say, but it actually doesn't hurt the band in any way. Another point you should know is that most of the choruses are very simple and catchy and will have you singing them after the first listen.
Getting back to my other point about the band sounding like Memphis May Fire, this is also true but they do a couple things to separate them from the other mainstream acts. What is admirable about this band is that they slow things down. They don't have as much energy as Memphis May Fire but this is also a good thing. They tend to use less breakdowns which is refreshing and it makes it very exciting when they do throw in a breakdown or two. The guitar riffs displayed in this album have southern charm all over them, you will also find more chugs than you might like which will bring us to ingredient #2 in creating a typical Rise-Core band. The chugs are completely drowned out by really amusing synths, which fits really well in this particular band. You're not going to hear unpleasant techno segments but you will hear exhilarating and intense orchestra and miscellaneous compact synths. If you're still curious about what the synth sound like just think of any 'We Came As Romans' album and that will pretty much sum it up.
This album features three notable vocalists. Matty Mullins, Kellin Quinn, and Tyler Carter. This is probably my biggest complaint on the album. Sure, having these three artist on the record sounds like a swell idea but it turns out being just a big waist of time. It just gives the impression that the album needs help which it does not. But I can see why he wanted these artist on the album. He wanted to make a very experimental and fun album, but sadly it backfires because featuring those artist does nothing to help the album, except maybe Matty Mullins feature. Tyler carter's swag influenced lyrics are extremely laughable and brings the album down to lowest of lows "Everybody lookin' for a moment to blow, dollas on dollas makin' it snow." Also, Kellin Quinn's washed up ego doesn't help one bit as he does nothing to improve the song he's featured in.
Overall the album is just a fun listen. It is a great display of how Post-Hardcore/Metalcore is done right. I don't think the band will go anywhere in the future or make a full length. But it's amusing to see how one man can create an album that is just as good as any other group with six or even seven members with bad haircuts. I would highly recommend listening to the track "Rokit Man" before exploring the rest of the album. It is a great album to listen to once in a while but can definitely get stale. After one simple EP this band has skyrocketed into the top of the foodchain of the genre. I will be very excited to see if he's gonna take this band further in the future.
