Review Summary: If no one else can Beau Bokan!
At first after hearing the long awaited first 2 demo releases by Blessthefall, which came after their extremely long hiatus due to losing their original singer Craig Mabbit because of commitment issues and having a daughter born. I was extremely pleased with what a good job Beau Bokan has done reshaping the band and making it his own. The witness album which is the follow up to the bands first release (His Last Walk) shows a much more matured and defined sound that Blessthefall now has to offer also the musical talent of the band has rapidly increased and the song structure has also greatly improved, after the first listen of witness i was quite impressed how they managed to flawlessly incorporate catchy choruses with a melodic heaviness that just gets you into a good mood when you listen to.
The album kicks off with 2.0 which basically explains that the band has not gone anywhere and is here to stay by screaming "Where not dead!", as an intro it doesn't do much good for the album i see what they were trying to do but they didn't do it exactly that's well.
The first (proper) song of the album is What's Left Of Me this song is a good example of the newer Blesthefall, taking a step in a less emo whiney direction with their music, the screams performed by Jarred are listenable but they don't show much variety in the whole album but they do accompany the singing of Beau Bokan very well. On a bit more of a positive note the guitars and drums have greatly improved since their previous release.
A re - recording of To Hell An Back is what were listening to on the third track of Witness basically the same as the demo version just a bit more touched up and mastered better though when first listening to the song earlier in the year i was extremely pleased with Beau's vocal ability.
God Wears Gucci, "hmmm?" not the most exciting song of album sounding alot like the previous two songs though i will give a mention to the catchy chorus and a build up at 2:26 which i enjoyed and then the rest of the song is a bit repetitive.
The fifth track of the album Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted actually sounds alot different musically then most of the other songs of the album the guitar's are showing alot more of a post - hardcore vibe, as for the drumming it's not as interesting as some of the other songs and there's no screams in this song.
Witness the sixth song is probably one of the best songs to show off Blessthefall's newer sound, i enjoyed the guitars and the clean vocals matched perfectly with the screaming vocals in this song the song has a couple of breakdowns and great melody its quite an enjoyable song.
Last Ones Left is one of the songs of the album that I couldn't really get into only because after listening to Witness the previous song it sound very similar and really didn't interest me that much.
I really like the intro to Five Ninety it starts off with screams from Jarred and and very heavy until Beau's soothing vocal come in and then honestly after that with the exception of the outro of the song which sounded alot like the ending of God Wears Gucci it was a quite boring song.
We'll Sleep When We're Dead has changed a bit compared to To Hell And Back and does sound alot better than the demo version, the song does involve some effects and stuff which people might start to think the future could show a bit more experimenting for Blessthefall?
I give kudos for the drumming in SkinWalkers as for the song it self it did have a few parts that could get you moving, but it was quite unoriginal after listening to the other songs in the album.
By the time I listened to You Deserve Nothing & I Hope You Get Less i was getting bored though towards the end of the song i was pleasantly surprised that it does pick up and the vocal delivery does play a huge factor in that.
The final song of the album Stay Still I would say was a good way to end the album still showing the same style as the rest of the album but it was a fun song and sounded great the actual song structure worked perfectly and was an enjoyable song.
As for the Witness album in a whole it was a major improvement from their previous release and alot of people will say that Beau Bokan will never be Craig Mabbit hes not trying to be as you can see by their new less emo style of music he has done a good job with this band and making it his own i would listen to most of the songs again but maybe not everyone of them.
Tracks Recommended:
Witness
Whats Left Of Me
Stay Still
We'll Sleep When We're Dead
