posted 09/05/2006 (Tue) @ 01:31 pm
>>> Music Reviews
Alesana - On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax (2006)
Next Thursday
- Icarus
- Ambrosia
- Pathetic, Ordinary
- Alchemy Sounded Good at the Time
- Daggers Speak Louder Than Words
- Last Three Letters
- Apology
- Tilting the Hourglass
- This Conversation Is Over
- Congradulations, I Hate You
- Third Temptation of Paris
- Siren’s Soliloquy
- Nero’s Decay
Alesana (with an extra ‘S,’ no lesss) are featured over at Smartpunk.com as of this writing. I sort of take it as a symptom of the times. If you can’t quite accept Christina Aguilera as a “maturing musical force with real soul” and care not to listen to hip-hop or the Killers and their many followers, you probably pop versions of Alesana like tabs of acid at Woodstock. For better or for worse.
Looking at it, I notice the song titles. They’ve got more than one or two words. Think this might be an emo/hardcore band? Hey, “daggers.” Not convinced? Elsewhere we have “pathetic,” “ordinary” (in the same title) and “hate.” But they’re just words, after all. Shakespeare invented bunches, which must be why all the bands on the cutting edge try to evoke mirages of good ol’ Billy in their dramatic poetry.
Listening to it, it’s a mixed bag. There’ll be something cool going on with syncopation or breakdowns (”Ambrosia”) one minute, but something completely pedestrian and ordinary pops up the next (almost everything else here). Their “Apology” quickly morphs from a weepy, saccharine emo bawlfest into a full-on screamy moshpit exercise. So in a sense, it’s got everything the discerning hardcore listener could want in under six minutes.
Maybe for some, the sound of the Chipmunks on the brink of suicide is a refreshing reprieve from the radio, but I’ve already listened to enough of Thursday to know I don’t like them or their ilk very much. Skip it, but if you think the Shakespearian lyrical influence has potential, get the Receiving End of Sirens record (”Between the Heart and the Synapse”) instead. Your ears will thank you for years.
Tags: emo, hardcore, metalcore, punk, screamo
