Before Their Eyes
The Dawn of My Death


3.5
great

Review

by Thriceremoved25 USER (2 Reviews)
January 9th, 2009 | 12 replies


Release Date: 2008 | Tracklist

Review Summary: A great CD with great potential that falls short to some minor flaws.

I'll start off by saying that when I hear Before Their Eyes first album I absolutely fell in love with it. It's not that great of a CD, but there was just something about it that was so catchy and heavy. I loved the singer’s voice and how he would go from high pitched singing to very low and heavy growls. Now with this album, his singing and screamed vocals sound to processed as if he tried too hard which makes me disappointed. The drums went down a notch from the last album and aren't as creative as I thought they were. But the guitars are consistently good keeping their style. Now this CD has real potential so I'll start off by saying the good things.

Life Was All a Dream is a good choice for an opener, because it has the fast drums, jamming guitars, and heavy and clean vocals. Everything you love in a good BTE song. And the breakdown in the end where he’s screaming “Life, life, life, bring me to life” is pretty intense. Next is Because 7 Ate 9, which I guess is a continuation from Why Did 6 Eat 7, but they sound nothing alike. This song is probably one of the heaviest with a really heavy riff and intense screaming in the intro. The chorus is good, but after the second chorus the song just stops. No breakdown, bridge, interlude. It just ends which really annoys me. It’s a good song with even better potential that it could be better. Now for one of the best songs on the album, The Beast Within. It has one of the catchiest choruses in any BTE song. Some really heavy screaming is shown on the breakdown where he repeats, “I’m addicted.” Now I’ll skip to track 5 The Things We Stood Against. Really a jam song, with really top notch drums. A lot like their first album, but it has the only guitar solo on the whole album. It’s decent, mostly pull off’s and triplets, so nothing hard, but it does sound pretty good, and leads to a cool breakdown. Next is another good jam song with more screaming than most of the other songs on the CD. It has a really good chorus with really good drums and is just a good song. The Way We Operate has absolutely no screaming and is a mediocre poppy rock song. Kind of disappointing but it is a decent song, nothing special at all. Now I’ll skip to track 10. This is an exceptionally good BTE song where the vocals stand out big time. It layers his vocals a lot but it sounds really good. And the screaming is constantly present in this song, especially at the breakdown, where has some creepy chick singing in the background. It has a really cool feel to it.

Now for the songs I skipped that totally destroy the album. First, So In Love. I’ll start off by saying it’s actually a decent song, but not on a BTE album. It has the most disastrous and generic lyrics I’ve ever heard. Here’s just a taste…

"And when the lights start dimming
You'll be asking me to make this room to stop spinning for you
Now let me offer my apology
I'm only sorry that you can't stop calling me"

It’s absolutely disastrous. I won’t even bother to explain it other than say that it sounds like a song from Simple Plan. Next is almost just as bad, New Kids In Town. Another song with disastrous lyrics so here’s a preview...

"We're not just here to fake it
we're gonna rock you to make you shake it
I'm gonna tear it down
I'm gonna bring it around
We're the new kids in town
So turn it up now!"

It’s absolutely horrible. It’s a wannabe redo of their other southern influenced screamo song Journey Down South (It Starts With a Two Step) on their first CD but it’s just awful and falls horribly short. And I’m not saying that BTE’s lyrics were ever top notch, but they stooped down so low producing crap like this. The other song Their Throats Are Open Graves is just a filler track and takes up a minute and a half of weird noises.

So in the end it’s a good CD with a lot of potential but falls horribly short with songs like So In Love, and New Kids In Town. If you liked their first album, you will probably like this.


user ratings (196)
3
good
other reviews of this album
metalheadrunner (2.5)
Though it wasn't quite a sophomore slump, this could've been a whole lot better....

Bitstream (3.5)
A Screamo band takes a cue from all sides, melodic, hard, electronic, and a dash of southern....



Comments:Add a Comment 
Spamue1G
January 9th 2009


1291 Comments


Reads like a 3, not a 3.5.
You've got some moments of good description, and I got an idea of what this sounds like, but you really need to think about your reviews before you start writing them. The structure is, while not the worst I've ever seen, unhelpful as far as I'm concerned. You could try a brief plan before you write it, and make sure you read it over before you submit it, so you know if you're happy with it or not. Not worth a neg, but it's not a pos either.
Also, a little hint - read up a little on screamo. I know that a lot of people use it just to describe bands that scream, but there's a hell of a lot more to it than that, so be careful. Ask a few staff members on the site for general advice (reviews and otherwise), as well.

evilmegaman
January 9th 2009


174 Comments


your review is just not very good bro. I won't neg it. but here's some issues:

you start off with an intro that lists a bunch of problems, then you say "let me start with the positive stuff" or something to that effect. well you already started with the negatives. you should point out that you're moving on.

Then The part about because 7 ate 9 thing mentions the wrong song title when you say it's continuing *why is six afraid of seven* (1. it's not continuing it. just a reference. 2. that's the correct song title you were looking for)

the part about the lyrics is very sloppy. the paragraphs under each of the quotes are way too similar. you should have only had one paragraph on lyrics. Maybe done in a totally different way.

Also, I agree that you make it sound worse than a 3.5.

Donul
February 11th 2009


106 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

well I think Im still gonna buy it

WhiteTieBlackJacket
February 11th 2009


794 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

@ Donul,



Oh, you absolutely should pick this up if you enjoyed their self-titled (although I think the self-titled was better).

Jaskolkaaa
January 20th 2010


330 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Yeah, this reads lower than you gave it...and it needs some kind of intro.

bloc
January 20th 2010


70683 Comments


Life Was All a Dream and Because 7 ate 9 are awesome. rest, not so much.

Spec
February 21st 2011


40136 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

This is just not very good.

CrimsonLies
August 29th 2011


2579 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

"Life Was All a Dream and Because 7 ate 9 are awesome. rest, not so much."



Agreed, although I also liked The Dawn of My Death and Their Throats Are Open Graves.

Spec
October 24th 2012


40136 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Band is so bad yeah.

Minus.
January 5th 2013


2747 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

I hate the generic auto tuned vocals in every single chorus

bellovddd
May 12th 2023


6779 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Landon made these dudes a lot better.

bellovddd
August 1st 2023


6779 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

this album holds up nicely. some decent heavy moments



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