Summer's End
Self Titled
7
I'd like to apologize in advance for what you're about to read, but I'm approaching what could be referred to as "a nervous breakdown" or even "a brain aneurysm" from listening to Summer's End.
God, oh god, why do these bands keep coming out? Didn't third-rate Gothenburg crap die out in 1999 when we all got tired of bands like Night In Gales and Gates of Ishtar? Can anyone really hear that much of a difference in that shit and the watered-down and faceless music of bands like Summer's End? How the hell can these bands put out albums when it's so obvious how already saturated the scene is? It's like a little kid with diarrhea who keeps shitting himself but refusing to change his underwear even as the feces leak out of the bottom of his shorts.
They sound like The Black Dahlia Murder, another band I'm always praying to break up, having dirty virginal sex with Avenged Sevenfold, all while ripping off the campy horror image of The Misfits. You've heard it all before, too many times, right on down to the faltering solo and fingertapping over a bland breakdown on "Haunting Hollowed Graves". The low-fi introduction of "Waking the Night" goes on for too long, especially when the first riff past it is so excellent. With the exception of the overworked melodic thrashing riff and when they seem to run out of ideas mid-way through, it's a really good song. Again, back to the solos - they head in the right direction but spontaneously take a nosedive with such little regard to the melody. It sounds exactly like a guy who I used to know in high school who could completely tear shit up, yet, had a really hard time incorporating it into a song. Always one note off, or going off in a different direction entirely. Sorry, that method of playing doesn't work in cookie-cutter melodic metalcore. But, what does work, in the genre of "good music", is what happens at the end of "Long Time Dead". Although the song begins by pathetically ripping off an Avenged Sevenfold track (not note for note, but close enough), they interrupt their contrived riffing for just a few precious moments to splice in a fantastic Pantera/Exhorder breakdown. The one song on the entire album that I'm sure the entire band is catching shit for in every review is probably the one I'm praising. I'm talking about "Headwound", which features flawless clear singing that actually overpowers however tiring a lot of the dual-guitar parts are. Unquestionably great, in my eyes. What's not so great is when a band decides to include three live tracks to end their debut record. It's okay though, as the sound quality is still acceptable and the three songs included do have a handful of solid material. "Through My Blood" sadly sounds like a six minute In Flames song with a mindblowing techy guitar part, "Flawless Seasons" is alright until a really bad moshy part with artificial harmonics enters, and "Final Goodbye" is luckily forgettable.
I fucking hate this so much, I can't express this enough. Is it really fair for me to fault a new band completely for the genre they claim affiliation to, just because I'm personally tired and nauseated by every single guitar melody stolen from Iron Maiden? No, it's not, because somewhere in the course of music, metalheads got it engrained into their tiny brains that playing this kind of trite bullshit was acceptable. So what's the worst part? I can't give this a bad rating because this music, no matter how badly it hurts to listen to, is written well and skillfully played. Just so fucking boring.
So to the readers, buy this if you're dumb enough to swallow the farts that bands like The Black Dahlia Murder feed you through a compression tank. You'll adore this. As for Summer's End? Here's some criticism. Some genuine and constructive criticism. Don't try to pull off those elaborate solos and alter your style completely. Keep your lineup the same, you're all talented musicians. The few hints of individual personality that you guys show is superb, and I mean that. It's just a shame that you've chosen to cloud whatever innovation you have with the most stale and played-out trend in heavy music today. And for Christ's sake, take off your fucking makeup and put on a pair of testicles.
