Evans Blue

Graveyard Of Empires

Written by: PP on 01/10/2012 05:40:56

Canadian rockers Evans Blue are at it again churning out crunchy alternative rock tunes with strong nu-metal references on their fourth album "Graveyard of Empires". With an established radio rock sound defining their albums up to this point, there's no reason to believe the band have taken any liberties with their sound, and as such, they still sound like carbon copies of Taproot and/or Chevelle, depending on who you ask.

So in that sense "Graveyard Of Empires" is a very unambitious album, but at the same time, it does what it does reasonably well. There are big, arena rock riffs, catchy, if somewhat melancholic vocal melodies, and a heavy underlying guitar sound that gives the sound the needed oomph to break away from their more poppy contemporary peers in alternative rock. It doesn't attempt to be anything more than it is, which is a standard mainstream alternative rock for the masses, but with slightly less obvious melody lines. That also means polished production and a couple of hit singles, yet the would-be filler material is surprisingly strong and at least much more convincing than it was on their previous, self-titled album three years ago. There's even some distorted screaming added in for good measure in select places, here bringing to mind The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus' debut album in particular.

Overall though, "Graveyard Of Empires" can feel a little bland and repetitive, without necessarily being a bad album. The tunes are all decent and fairly catchy, but they sound pretty much like a less-enthusiastic version of Taproot, as if that band was on autopilot instead of writing songs with their usual skill and flair. I realize I'm making it out to be worse than it actually is, but that's because it is essentially a very predictable and formulaic album, though a well executed one for what it is.

7

Download: This Time It's Different, Alone Not Lonely
For the fans of: Taproot, Chevelle, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Red
Listen: Facebook

Release date 17.04.2012
Sounds+Sights

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