 |
|
October 8, 2008 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
01. Acknowledgement
02. Soft Green Fields
03. A Piece Of History Written In English
04. Dark Waters Of Thought
05. Oracles And Doorsteps
06. For Those Lost
07. The Crusher
08. Ghosts Over Japan
09. These Lights Above Us
10. Mourning For Morning
|
|
Comprised of individuals who live on the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania, FROM A SECOND STORY WINDOW are yet another band you can file under the genre Techcore or Math Metal or Spazz-Jazz or whatever this kind of music is being called this week. They fall in line with some of the "It" Hardcore/Metal hybrid acts of the last few years such as BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, DEAD WATER DROWNING, THE END, and THE RED CHORD. It is not surprising than that "Delenda" is being released through CHORD frontman Guy Kozowyk's label Black Market Activities (distributed by Metal Blade Records).
FROM A SECOND STORY WINDOW's second album is a lot of parts, but not much holding them together. It’s difficult to tell where one song starts and another one begins, which is often the problem with this kind of music. It’s a commentary on the typical music fan these days, where so many styles are embraced and record collections can grow by leaps and bounds (due in no small part to Internet D/L and MySpace profiles), that it makes it almost impossible to stick with one style and just expand on it until it becomes something new.
FROM A SECOND STORY WINDOW throw it all in the pot; Death Metal, Hardcore, Melodic Metal, Ambient, Prog Rock, Mosh Metal. But the whole thing is just overloaded with ideas that the songs don’t breathe. They’re just in a rush to get to the next part. I think I count like 15 different genres in "The Crusher" alone. I can’t help but think if they would just weed out the parts they could create 4 or 5 real ass-kicking songs out of the parts. The one song that does to seem to stick with one style is "Ghosts Over Japan", which with its Emo vocal lines and delicate piano work, joins the likes of ATREYU's "The Theft" and BLEEDING THROUGH's "Line In The Sand" as something that could appear on "Monster Ballads: The Metalcore Years" in the not-to-distant future.
The lyric booklet looks more like a script for a play than a lyrics sheet. It’s not as if you can make out what's being sung, but the lyrics do show that there is a literary element to the band that is always welcome. They do seem to be a little on the humorless pretentious side of the spectrum though, lacking the dark humor that makes contemporaries/obvious influence THE RED CHORD such a joy a listen to. It’s a shame that aspect of the band is lost on the fans and the bands in this genre, but I digress.
There is a lot of talent to be found in FROM A SECOND STORY WINDOW, and if they turn that talent into actual song writing instead of just showing off how many genres of music they like, they could be one of the more interesting metallic acts to watch out for. Until then, watch out for falling MySpace comments.
|
|
|
|
