Hawthorne Heights
The Silence In Black And White
5
OK, look: I was lucky enough to have been able to be in on some of the great punk and hardcore acts when they were fresh and exciting. When it was still relatively creative and inspiring. I missed the original heydays, but I was there for Fugazi, Bad Religion’s first few, NOFX, Shades Apart etc. And I despise with great loathing people who get stuck in the past, insisting that the music they listened to “back then” was vastly superior to what “these so called [insert rock style here] bands are playing”. These types make me fucking sick. They aren’t correct, they are just old. I like to think I am not trapped in my early twenties like so many of my contemporaries, that I can tell the difference between great new music and shitty derivative music.
But I have to insist what I am hearing at the moment is shitty and derivative. It’s not metal by any stretch. Not metalcore, not pop metal. It’s slightly - SLIGHTLY edgy pop-punk. Not the happy crappy shit like Blink 182, but emodripping bullshit. Weak, painfully weak whiny vocals and an occasional scream which sounds calculated to fool people into thinking they are listening to something emotionally charged. But the only people who should be fooled are lovesick 12 year olds and has-been record executives. The sickest part is it’s not even catchy. It’s fucking dull. It’s dull and annoying. Let’s say for a moment that this website was an emocore website instead of a metal website. This is STILL one of the lamest records we would review.
To say that the singing is indistinguishable from every other band of this type is like saying shit stinks. Whine whine whine slightly off key, then scream. The musicianship is average. The songwriting is just pathetically derivative of other, better bands. Christ, go buy Grey Matter and get the real thing. The production does nothing to bring any distinctness to this record. The guitars are not caustic, meaty, heavy…anything special. The bass is rooted to the root. The drums are achingly average. This much averageness is just NOT ACCEPTABLE.
So what I am saying is that this record is perfectly bland, average, hack, boring and not worth a fucking penny. I got it for free and I want to take it back. This is hardcore for Hilary Duff fans. It’s tweenercore! This is the music you listen to when you are talking to your best, BEST friend on your cell phone in your room where you have been grounded to because you are too young to date but still HAD to see Brody at the mall and your daddy is SUCH an ASSHOLE!!! Anyone else, buy this only if you need something shiny to smash.
