Review Summary: the most mature release from this band yet. i highly recomend this album to fans of any of their other work.
Current line-up:
John Henry - Vocals (1995-)
Mike Schleibaum - Guitar (1995-)
Kris Norris - Guitar (2003-)
Paul Burnette - Bass (2001-)
Ryan Parrish - Drums (1999-)
With this album peaking at #138 on the U.S. billboard I was expecting a very good record from this band . I have been a fan since I first saw them live about 3 years ago.. Believe me when I say that this album does not disappoint at all. From the first track to the last this album will never have you moving your finger close to the skip button.
With a Thousand Words to Say But One: great way to start out the album. Without a doubt my favorite track on the album. It starts out with some slow guitars for about the first 45 seconds then BOOM!!! The song starts and has you hooked. it goes pretty fast until 2:15 and the vocals come right back and then you realize how much talent Ryan Perish has. He really steps up his musicianship in this release.
Convalescence: the title track from the album. It has really great guitar work (along with the rest of the album, but particularly here. The guitar solo is very good. I absolutely love the riff in this song.
This Will Outlive Us: the song starts out with some good sweeping and then here comes John with faster vocals then usual. The drumming stands out again in this song more than usual. As the song progresses it slows down though. This is a pretty good song.
Sound the Surrender: the second track this band made a video for off this album. You really get the melodic sense from the guitars in this song. They really slow it down in this song and it sounds amazing. The guitar solo will blow you away. It is pretty complex, but very well done.
Pathos: the first of 2 instrumentals on this album. It is very good which you would come to expect from the other guitar work on this album.
Low: the song starts off with some good drumming from Ryan and the riff fits perfect in this song along with henrys’ vocals. There are some good backing vocals on this song if you listen closely.
Ethos: the second instrumental of the album and the better of the two. The guitar work gets pretty fast for about the last 25 seconds and it leads right into the next song.
District Divided: henrys’ vocals take over this song the most I think. That isn’t saying that the musicianship isn’t great because it is along with every song in this album, but his vocals are really good in this song.
These Fevered Times: I really like the main riff that they used in this song. it flows great with henrys’ vocals throughout the song. It has a good guitar solo too. The best part about this song comes at 2:32 when Ryan does some really fast drumming and it sounds amazing.
Paradise: the meaning of this song is very uplifting and I found it great. I love how Henry speaks into the microphone on this song. the drumming backs it up very well when he does it in this song.
Tranquil: wow what a great way to end this album. the group vocals in this song really make it that much more amazing. This song has my favorite guitar solo and guitar work on the whole album. For the last 2 minutes you hear the guitars as it sounds like it is building up more and more, but then it just fades and the cd is over. Some may say that this song is a little too long, but I like it a lot.
Overall this is by far the bands best and most mature release. If you even remotely liked any of their other work than give this album a listen. The musicianship has improved so much on this album. If you like Swedish style vocals than I am pretty sure that you will like this album.
PROS:
- incredible musicianship
- guitar solos blow you away
- more of a metal record than a metalcore record
- the production is very crisp
CONS:
- some may say that henrys’ vocals get repetitive
4.8/5 definitely pick this album up.
