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Review Summary: Better produced, more diverse and more atmospheric, Reflections return after the loss of a guitarist with their strongest effort to date. I never understood the hype for Reflections. There were a few songs off their previous album, "Exi(s)t", which I found quite good but the majority of it just seemed like deathcore with some fancy guitar wankery dotted around from time to time. However, when I heard they had a new album coming out I decided to give them another shot, and so I gave the first single, "Actias Luna" a listen.
I was pleasantly surprised when I heard this song. It sounded fairly similar to Northlane when Adrian Fitipaldes was still the singer, but the clean vocals in the chorus were a lot stronger. Throughout this album it's clear that the vocals are a definite highlight. Vocalist Jake Wolf went through some traumatic experiences prior to this album being released, struggling with addiction as well as the loss of a close friend, and he channels every ounce of emotion into his vocal performance on this record, making for a very diverse vocal range. Whilst the lyrics may be far from the best lyrics ever written, the amount of passion behind the vocals is enough to compensate for this.
For those who were worried that this would simply be a Northlane rip-off album based on "Actias Luna", listening to the entire record proves otherwise. Reflections have added a fair amount of diversity to this record, ranging from rage-filled riff monsters ("Shadow Self") to atmospheric songs like "Actias Luna", as well as hints of black metal ("Pseudo" and "Amulet") and songs that will remind long-time fans of this band of their previous two albums ("Limbo"). Despite the loss of a guitarist, Reflections have still proven themselves to be very competent musicians. The drummer provides a lot of impressive fills throughout the record, the remaining guitarist provides the album with tasteful riffs and the bassist (trust me, he is there), provides the necessary undertone.
The Color Clear does a lot of things very well, and the improved production makes it an overall more enjoyable listen than its predecessors. Whilst I feel the bass could have been a little louder in the mix, the improvement this band has made makes up for it. Some people may find some songs more or less appealing than others given the deviations in style throughout, but overall this doesn't interrupt the album's flow too much. Overall I am both impressed and surprised that Reflections have put out such a good album. It's certainly not an album to be missed, by both old and new fans alike.
Overall rating: 3.8/5
Recommended tracks:
Amulet
Limbo
Actias Luna
Shadow Self
Autumnnus
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Album Rating: 4.0
As always, I'm open to positive and negative feedback for this review.
I'm gonna be hooked on this album for a while.
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i got more Node era Northlane vibes based on the single versus old school northlane tbh
need to listen to this soon, pos'd btw
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
"i got more Node era Northlane vibes based on the single versus old school northlane tbh"
It's kinda a mixture of both. I think the production is closer to Node but instrumentally and vocally it's closer to Singularity, except for the cleans, they're much closer to Marcus' cleans.
But cheers Game! I imagine you'll dig this.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Vocals can be overbearing at times, and some of the lyrics are terrible. Some of the more chug fest songs in here are obviously only added to please old fanboys
Overall I think the band made an absolutely massive progression here
Well played to them
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Although a lot of the pointless wankery is still in here, loads of retarded pick scraping n' shit for super cool breakdown points
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"dotted around from time to time."
- redundant. when you say "dotted" in this sense, it's basically the same thing as "from time to time." try and comb through your review, and make sure every word counts.
the second paragraph mentions "vocals" six times. it just makes it feel like you're repeating yourself. in this paragraph, you say:
the clean vocals are strong
the vocals are a highlight
there's a lot of emotions in the vocals
the vocals are diverse
there's passion in the vocals
^see what i mean?
the other paragraphs pretty much say that the other musicians are competent. as you continue to develop your writing skills, you'll find ways to deliver more insight, and really sell the album.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Haven't listened to this yet but I saw these guys live a few weeks ago. This band should stick to the studio.
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they suck live artiswar? thats dissapointing, im seeing them with texas in july in november, hoping they're decent
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I thought Exist was utter trash, but I'll give this a listen.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Kinda nothing like Exist for the most part, production is 100x better for a start
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
pos, and agree with this review.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
They are actually really good live Andre. Last time I saw them they were pretty solid from what I remember.
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damn, thats good to hear, stoked as fuck to see them and invent, animate. also stoked to listen to this album. so happy its good. pos'd btw.
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"Whilst I feel the bass could have been a little louder in the mix" that's will putney for you
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"that's will putney for you"
This x100. Dude has worked with a lot of bands I like, but sometimes I find his production really loud and overbearing. I can usually tell within 2-3 songs of an album whether or not he had a hand in it.
That being said, I am looking forward to FFAA's new album.
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I feel like Putney is pretty hit and miss with albums. For example, I loved the way the new Northlane and SFTP sounded, but not the new Counterparts or Thy Art.
I might give this a listen though I wasn't a big fan of their previous material.
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i like putney for the most part, but yeah, his work can be volatile. some of it is great, some is lousy. but damn, that guy knows how to engineer and record a bass drum.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I thought I was gonna hate this one. Glad to see they at least improved their overall production.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
sadist and limbo are terrible and remind me of sworn in, shadow self is dumb(but fun), butterfly effect is meh
everything else ranges from v good to great, much better songwriting here, even with the duds i think its their best album
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Whaaaat, sadist/limbo are close to my favorite songs on the album. I really like the bassy riffs they have part way through the song. Sounds... different, but a good different. And the drums are absolutely incredible in both of those songs. I guess that is me though, I enjoy every song on the album. The lyrics are little too emo at points though, but I still appreciate the structures of the lyrics though. Most of them were really well written.
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