Review Summary: The Word Alive shine through in a bleak genre, orchestrating a strong debut effort.
After the departure of Mr. Mabbitt, The Word Alive looked like it may never recover after the loss of the popular vocalist, after all without a vocalist where can a band go? Only down. However TWA regained control of their reins thanks to their new and current vocalist, Tyler 'Telle' Smith. Back in July 2009, the sextet from Phoenix, Arizona released an EP; titled Empire. It was a starting point for TWA, it demonstrated talent and that the band has some sort of capability to be successful.
Just over a year later and TWA storm the underground scene with their debut album, Deciever.
As everyone knows the current state of the metalcore, hardcore, post-hardcore genre's is on a downfall, they're cluttered with monotony, unorginal breakdowns and when something 'new' is shown off every band jumps on the wagon. Already TWA's debut looks deemed to fail and crumble...how wrong that assumption was, TWA have created, crafted even, a gem in a genre that is buried amongst a tasteless structure and bitter band growth.
The overall feel and sound of Deciever is a dark but dreamy sonic venture, every song has it's 'ear bleeding' moments (Hounds of Anubis & Epiphany), but there is also softness and harmony present (Dream Catcher, You're All I See). Along with the heavy and the soft which both are sonically portrayed extremely well by the individual muscians, comes the evergrowing synth. The synth can competely switch the tide of a song and the entire feel; take Epiphany as an example, near the end the vocals are viciously heavy but with an injection of a synthesiser it changes, it may be a slight change but it shows thought behind the music, something lacking in the most of the 'core genres.
Vocally the album is superb, 'Telle' delivers with his strong guttarals, rip-roaring screams and his soft vocals. His vocal's have definately grown and have become stronger since the EP, on songs like 'Hounds of Anubis' which unleashes with the violent "I'm the King..." sends shivers down my spine, vocals like that captivate and hold the listener in place for the songs to come. Telle does have a vocal range within in his screams, they can be ear piercing or ground shattering, but his clean vocals are also fairly good. In every song clean vocals are present, however I must point out that the clean vocals can be fairly irritating because of how soft they can be at times.
Instrumentally, the guitarsist's and drummer hold there own showing off sweet breakdowns, intricate solo's and tight riffs. This is one of the very few albums that doesn't have the constant 'chug chug chug' but still the guitar workmanship isn't anything mind blowing, but they have there moments. The drummer has surpassed the old drummer in terms of delivering that extra 'punch' to a song but generally the drumming is pushed aside for the man, the keyboardist known as Dusty. He, unlike many keyboardists actually plays a crucial part in TWA, he delivers excellent synths, electronics and yes, even Dubstep. Simple synth hooks as I mentioned before change a song's tone & atmosphere, in songs such as '2012' dubstep is used to add that extra '*** you feel' as the song is your typical metalcore '*** with us, see what happens'. I can only praise Dusty as his ability to create and deliver is sublime, at times he could of been more creative but overall it's good stuff!
Now don't get me wrong Deciever isn't perfect, along with the 'chug chug' moments, the struggle to be completely original and lyrics that you'd expect to hear on a metalcore outing...there is a sense of, in certain songs, the same used structure and it becomes a little tedious. 'Consider it Mutual' & 'Dream Catcher' are both good songs but they use the same dream-esque sound and another issue is some songs go on for too long (The Wretched) where as others such as '2012' could of done with that extra 'hit' that could of made them that extra special.
The only real problem with Deciever for me is the guest vocals and 'You're All I See'. Firstly, 'You're All I See' is a ballad, and I really don't like it; yes its a break from the heavy instruments and shows another side to the band and lets your ears rest from the vicious vocals but it really isn't that good, it seems like TWA are just saying "want something a bit different? Here's a ballad".
As for the guest vocals, I personally don't see the point in them, they bring nothing to the song and are either weak or unrecognizable, the poorest song for guest vocals is 'The Wretched'. Telle could of easily done it better himself, but ohwell.
So thats it, TWA have delivered a very strong debut album, it has more ups than downs and in a odd sense it's a breath of fresh air. Yes, it isn't anything new or groundbreaking but TWA show that they're not trying to be groundbreaking, their just showing us that they're not like every band out there, and that they are talented.
The whole album is worth the money but if your unsure.....
Songs to download:
'Consider it Mutual': An experimental song, ranging from piano to a dream like sound.
'2012': If you feel angry this song hits the spot, shows off the dubstep side.
'Hounds of Anubis': Probably the best song on the album, describes the TWA completely.
'Epiphany': An overall strong song.
'Like Father, Like Son': Again, a decent song.
