Review Summary: An “Alice in Wonderland” journey and roller coaster ride, all in one.
At first listen, I felt that this album was a letdown in comparison to In This Moment's first album, Beautiful Tragedy. Honestly, my first experience was with the metalcore incarnation of In This Moment, seeing them tour and play live with the mighty Rob Zombie. And as a result, I still hold Beautiful Tragedy very high in their discography. But over time, this album, though starkly different, became just as seminal.
This album takes you on an “Alice in Wonderland” journey via, as noted by the band, a “roller coaster ride with explosive highs, beautiful lows and everything in between”. The first track, an intro, takes us down the “Rabbit Hole” through lavender clouds into a never ending dream. “Our birth has just begun”.
Although the “Rabbit Hole” is more of a musical journey, with peaks and valleys and all in-between; Many of the song lyrics also serve to enhance the journey. My review, as follows, is more on the lyrical concept of the album, and less to the music itself.
Inside the Rabbit Hole, the life of a touring musician is presented in the track “All for You”: “the seasons come and go, another night another show” and “these faces come and go”. An unknown entity serving to lead us on the long road home. Next, we drift and become “lost at sea”, and then drift further, falling free and burning eternally, as we dive down into the track “Her Kiss”. Although “Mechanical Love” is a strong track, reinforcing the “explosive highs” of this album, the lyrics less support the concept.
We next end up “Into the Light”, lying on the floor and barely breathing, with the room filling up with light, and passing to the other side. Our passing is confirmed in “You Always Believed”, as we are reflected upon.
The apex of the album, in my opinion, is the track “The Great Divide”. This song is brimming over with energy – the highest of the “explosive highs” that finally provides the Beautiful Tragedy-like metalcore that In This Moment was initially known for. Once this song hits, the album climaxes and reaches a new level. And honestly the climax is an incredible release - what we (or I) have been patiently waiting for throughout the prior tracks.
We next calm back down with the track “Violet Skies”. Upon being lost for years in the storm, dreams lead the way as we “fall into the violet skies”. This world being “where we are free”, and where we can “shake the ground”, “touch the sky”, “crawl the moon”, and “ride the night”.
In the end, we learn in the track “The Dream” that we are stuck in a never-ending dream. Floating, as we fall down the unending Rabbit Hole and birth begins again.
