This is modern rock tailor made for mainstream radio. Lead
off track “Bottom of the Bottle” is already getting plenty of spins on 92.3, and
there’s probably another one or two potential singles among the remaining 13
tracks. Obviously this is not the sort of thing we here at Utter Trash normally
go out and buy (it was sent by the nice folks at Lava Records) but my personal
tastes aside Smile Empty Soul’s self titled debut is good for the style of music
the band plays. I have to admit I even liked a few songs, notably “For You”, a
low key number that builds to a satisfying explosion of angst at the end. The
band knows how to write songs in a craftsman like way, but their sound is pretty
generic. Some of that is probably the fault of the ultra slick production but
the band also has a tendency to follow the overused quiet verse/angry chorus
formula one hears all too much these days. It ain’t my thing, but I wouldn’t
say it’s bad, either. If you like the single, you’ll probably dig the album.
(Bob Ignizio)
While Heaven Wept describe their style as “epic doom”, and
that sounds about right. There are plenty of slow and heavy riffs and lyrics
about sadness, depression, and broken dreams. Fortunately the band has a
distinctive sound that blends these typical doom elements with power metal
melodicism and enough sense to steer clear of 20 minute dirges. In fact, they
may even turn off some doom purists but who gives a fuck. The best music
doesn’t follow rules, it follows inspiration and these guys seem to be doing
their own thing. The vocalist sounds a bit like Dennis Deyoung of Styx fame
(and I don’t care what anyone says, the dude had a good voice) and keyboards are
given almost as much prominence in the mix as the guitars. Despite the morose
subject matter the songs are generally up tempo. Good hooks and the songs are
well arranged. I’m sure lots of hardcore metalheads will find this too melodic
and weak sounding, but those with an open mind may want to check it out. You
can download some samples from
http://www.mp3.com/whw.
Have you ever
heard a band that sounded so damn similar to another band that you swore you had
an unreleased album of said band being emulated? Well when I was in Junior High
School there was a band that got to be pretty big called The Get Up Kids. This
band was on Toledo's Doghouse Records for some time and may still be(it has been
years since I heard them). The band in question of over emulation is The Wood
and The Wires. Maybe they used to Live in Toledo too, because this sounds like
an unreleased Get Up Kids CD. To be quite honest the CD has some redeeming
qualities if you enjoy emo music. The first being the tightness the band has
with the drums calling the shots. As a drummer I must say this simply wails on
the kit, top flight stuff. I wish the disc had liner notes or members listed,
hell maybe even contact info on it, but CD-Rs aren't known for their
professional look and I get the impression this is a surplus disc sent in a
press kit. The truth is if you enjoy songs about girls with a very good
(although already been done) feel then you will generally like this album. On
the good side this is tight and professionally done. Good drums and only
$2.00. On the bad, CD-R releases irk me, this has already been done, and
borders on cliche - I could have easily made a joke about crying in this
review. No band info. (Nate Hough-Snee)
Well, these guys are just plain weird. Which to me is va
good thing, of course. The band found an audio letter from a family in Florida
at a thrift store and used it as raw material for a Zappaesque song cycle based
on a motif written by Weird Al Yankovic which they have named “Happy Tape”. The
tape is sampled to nice effect, but there are vocals from the band as well.
“Captain Spacerocket in the 24th Century” is another song cycle, this
one essentially a weird spoken word science fiction tale with a musical
backdrop. Both halves of the album are pretty good, although “Captain
Spacerocket...” started to wear on my patience towards the end. Still, if you
like humorous weirdo music played by good musicians (e.g. Zappa, Phish, Beefhart,
Butthole Surfers) you should check this out. (Bob Ignizio)
This is modern rock tailor made for mainstream radio. Lead
off track “Bottom of the Bottle” is already getting plenty of spins on 92.3, and
there’s probably another one or two potential singles among the remaining 13
tracks. Obviously this is not the sort of thing we here at Utter Trash normally
go out and buy (it was sent by the nice folks at Lava Records) but my personal
tastes aside Smile Empty Soul’s self titled debut is good for the style of music
the band plays. I have to admit I even liked a few songs, notably “For You”, a
low key number that builds to a satisfying explosion of angst at the end. The
band knows how to write songs in a craftsman like way, but their sound is pretty
generic. Some of that is probably the fault of the ultra slick production but
the band also has a tendency to follow the overused quiet verse/angry chorus
formula one hears all too much these days. It ain’t my thing, but I wouldn’t
say it’s bad, either. If you like the single, you’ll probably dig the album.
(Bob Ignizio)
While Heaven Wept describe their style as “epic doom”, and
that sounds about right. There are plenty of slow and heavy riffs and lyrics
about sadness, depression, and broken dreams. Fortunately the band has a
distinctive sound that blends these typical doom elements with power metal
melodicism and enough sense to steer clear of 20 minute dirges. In fact, they
may even turn off some doom purists but who gives a fuck. The best music
doesn’t follow rules, it follows inspiration and these guys seem to be doing
their own thing. The vocalist sounds a bit like Dennis Deyoung of Styx fame
(and I don’t care what anyone says, the dude had a good voice) and keyboards are
given almost as much prominence in the mix as the guitars. Despite the morose
subject matter the songs are generally up tempo. Good hooks and the songs are
well arranged. I’m sure lots of hardcore metalheads will find this too melodic
and weak sounding, but those with an open mind may want to check it out. You
can download some samples from
Well, these guys are just plain weird. Which to me is va
good thing, of course. The band found an audio letter from a family in Florida
at a thrift store and used it as raw material for a Zappaesque song cycle based
on a motif written by Weird Al Yankovic which they have named “Happy Tape”. The
tape is sampled to nice effect, but there are vocals from the band as well.
“Captain Spacerocket in the 24th Century” is another song cycle, this
one essentially a weird spoken word science fiction tale with a musical
backdrop. Both halves of the album are pretty good, although “Captain
Spacerocket...” started to wear on my patience towards the end. Still, if you
like humorous weirdo music played by good musicians (e.g. Zappa, Phish, Beefhart,
Butthole Surfers) you should check this out. (Bob Ignizio)