Review Summary: Adjunct.
Alesana’s The Emptiness is a disappointment in many regards and, as a band, comes in many guises. First, though, it is necessary to disclose my distaste for the string of post-hardcore bands put out these days and the record companies ready to latch a “recyclable” sticker on them as bad as 90’s boy bands. It’s really just trash, however. This is the class Alesana chooses to put out their material. Thing is, I am hardly disappointed with the other bands, simply because the repetitive motions of these bands bashing their stagnant brains against the wall of banality is no less than what is expected of them. My disappointment in Alesana arises because I can see what they might have been capable of had they not jumped in the post-hardcore bandwagon.
Shawn’s voice, when not simply juxtaposed for effect against Dennis Lee’s screams, has shining potential in tracks such as A Lunatic’s Lament (00 – 0:20) and Annabel (2:26 – 2:57). The edgy ambience of his voice does not belong in Alesana. Or any band with triple layered guitars and breakdowns, for that matter. The dream-like opening to Hymn For The Shameless brings to the table exactly what it needs. Dennis Lee, on the other hand, has done to his vocal chords something that is beyond repair. Perhaps some reverb effect and trying not to sound quirky by actually articulating the lyrics would land Dennis Lee in a lightly successful Ambient Black Metal band (or something of an innovation). The attempt at innovation on The Emptiness, such as the dialogue between singer and screamer, accessory shoegaze effect, and the introduction of a melodic solo on the final number, however, become adjunct ornamentation; a “see what I can do”, rather than a consistent flow or style.
We have seen a succession of metal bands along the last couple of decades trying to put a sound together that is both melodic, ambient, technical and thrashy, with many failures and a few gems. Alesana is kind of like those failures: the inability to capture sound and style and to make it sparkle. They borrow musical ideas, but they fall short of making it their own. The result is messy. My subsequent overthinking has led me to an imaginary band composed of Alesana’s front men performing an act which organizes the synthesis in such a way that is standard for 21st century eclectic metal. Shawn’s own screams, when rarely utilized, are reminiscent of screamo bands produced in the 90’s such as Circle Takes The Square and Saetia. Okay, that was a comparison I will get *** for, I know, but my point rests: The inventory of potential musical competence this band displays drives me to moments of disquiet unrest and possibility.
I feel like making amends with myself for this band -- My own history with this band is a path that is long and winding, which is the reason nobody else could have written this review. Since I grew out of Alesana, I discovered a new world of music and acquired a taste for musicians that didn’t have to sound like that “other band I liked”.
I get it; this band is “gay”, but perhaps I have no right to an objection, as my own disappointment further exceeds any of those whom never had a history of appreciation towards them; such is the nature of disappointment of a parent towards his child. However, as another “cookie-cutter” band, The Emptiness, and Alesana, became a product of obsolescence long before this review was conjured.
