Guitar World
THRIVE OR DIE
The Used, Funeral For A Friend and From Autumn To Ashes attempt to transcend their screamo roots.
Traditionally, evolution takes millions of years and is achieved through subtle changes to an organism’s molecular makeup. However, if you’re a screamo band, you’ve generally got about one record to make that transition. The three acts here are acutely aware of this fact and are struggling with a natural biological urge to adapt, because they know better than anyone that the results could determine whether each band thrives or implodes.
By far the most popular of these three acts is the Used, who alongside acts like Thursday, helped define the Summer Of Screamo way back in 2002. While the band didn’t make any decisive sonic shifts with 2004’s In Love And Death, on Lies For The Liar they inexplicably supplement their anthemic sound with NIN-inspired industrial flourishes, superfluous orchestras and waltzing woodwinds, all of which ultimately serve as a distraction to their songs instead of enhancing them.
The other problem is that the band are trying to so hard to emulate their former protégés in My Chemical Romance (see the arty “The Bird And The Worm”), that the Used fail to establish their own identity, instead falling back on studio trickery to cover-up their lack of innovation. Sure, the vitriolic “Liar Liar (Burn In Hell)” will get the pit moving, but if the Used’s frontman Bert McCracken want to stay at the top of the pack, he’s going to have do better than passing off second-grade taunts as lyrics.
The English imports in Funeral For A Friend go a far a safer route with Tales Don’t Tell Themselves, abandoning dual guitar harmonies and guttural vocals for shimmering guitar lines and a pop sensibility that has far more in common with Unwritten Law than it does Underoath. However, while the post-hardcore grooves on conceptual tracks like “Part 2: Open Water” evoke late-’90s pioneers like Quicksand, the album lacks the edge of the band’s previous material. That’s not to say Tales Don’t Tell Themselves doesn’t have its gems—such as the impossibly catchy single “Into Oblivion (Reunion)” or the midtempo “One For The Road”—however, these songs sound markedly watered down in comparison to 2005’s major-label debut, Hours.
Ironically, the strongest release here comes from the band has changed their sound the least. Although the band’s longtime frontman Ben Perri isn’t present on From Autumn To Ashes’ latest disc, drummer Francis Mark has stepped up to sing, scream and lay down the beats on what could be considered to be post-screamo’s first official masterpiece, Holding A Wolf By The Ears.
In fact, tracks like “On The Offensive” manage to incorporate galloping guitars, tasteful single note lines and huge choruses in a way that incorporates elements of the band’s screamo sound without making it sound forced or formulaic. “I would never steal from you or any of your friends,” Mark sweetly sings just seconds before a brutal breakdown erupts on the aforementioned track. Maybe not, but it couldn’t hurt for the band’s peers to take a clue from FATA if they expect their fans to evolve alongside them.