Tear Out The Heart

Dead, Everywhere

Written by: PP on 05/02/2015 23:07:37

About two years ago, St. Louis-based metalcore band Tear Out The Heart released a decent debut album with distinct electronic post-hardcore vibes that attracted a guest cameo by Attack Attack!'s Caleb Shomo. For sophomore album "Dead, Everywhere", Shomo has taken over the knobs as the producer for the album, which has brought a little more control and focus into their expression. On "Violence", the band's contrast between growled and harshly screamed verses and higher pitched cleans was often way too drastic, which meant the two parts didn't appear to fit together very well over the course of the album. That said, the band clearly had a sensible idea for chorus melodies in each song, so the album felt well put together overall, even if it wasn't a contender per se.

For "Dead, Everywhere", then, the band have fine-tuned that balance somewhat. The album is still majorly circling around the heavy metalcore passages that are contrasted by far more melodic post-hardcore choruses, but they've now been brought closer together to one another. The bridges flow smoother from one section to another; dropping the cleans an octave or so lower means they all of a sudden feel closer and more natural next to the razor-sharp screaming. Electronic effects are of course still prominently on display on the background, but they never become the leading element in their expression. That being said, it's hard to call Tear Out The Heart's sound anything else but textbook metalcore/post-hardcore. It's a derivative sound of older bands transformed into the typically compressed guitars and a ton of breakdowns as we see with most modern bands in the genre, and then there's the pop element. On multiple songs like "The Rejected", the clean melodies reach much further into this realm than any of the old guard dared to during metalcore's heyday in early to mid 2000s, and I'm not sure it's for the better. The melodies feel superfluous and forgettable over multiple listening sessions, even if they are definitely sing-alongable when you're listening to a particular song on the spot.

Still, youngsters without a particular need to pay homage to the older bands in the genre should lap this up pretty much instantly. Thanks to catchy choruses and brutal growls accompanying the piercing screams, the heavy/melodic balance is present in well enough written passages that it should sustain Tear Out The Heart until the next album at least. After that, we'll have to start asking questions if this is really leading anywhere or if they are happy continuing forward as a tier 2 metalcore band.

7

Download: I've Got Secrets, Damage Control, The Rejected
For the fans of: Of Mice & Men, Memphis May Fire, The Devil Wears Prada, In Fear And Faith
Listen: Facebook

Release date 27.01.2015
Victory Records

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