Tears From The Sky
Power Symbol EP
5
For a few reasons, I don't really like writing reviews for metalcore albums. For one, I'm actually pretty fond of the genre, so sometimes controlling personal bias when a stronger act comes along can be an issue. Secondly, multiple spins of most core-suffixed releases will leave you very little distinctive characteristics to hold on to, which can make writing an interesting critique a bit of a task. However, the very hardest thing about writing a review for a metalcore album is that even the bands that suck never really suck, they just bother the hell out of you by means of sacrificing their potential in an effort to sound just like everybody else.
That's the problem with this Tears From the Sky EP. What we have here is a clearly skilled band, who even display flashes of depth and originality. For example, the opening and title track of Power Symbol kicks off the album by setting expectations very high. What could be a just a typical melodi-core song is spiced up with some southern-fried hard rock melodies and endowing the song with a sort of charisma similar to that found on Hearse's, Armageddon Mon Amour. Unfortunately, the moments where Tears From the Sky embrace this sound throughout the rest of the album are sparse. The remainder of the material is acceptable, but extremely frustrating, as it showcases the band doing a solid job of sounding just like everybody else. "The Next Few Days" and "As One Till The End" with their adequate thrashing and dulcet melodies bring to mind adjectives like competent, passable, and satisfactory. These are not the kinds of reactions a metal band should aspire to illicit.
Perhaps I'm jaded, and this isn't a very fair review. I can't stress enough that this band is skilled and the presentation and production are very professional. The thing is, you can the say same for pretty much any metalcore act. Fans of third tier denizens like ikilledthepromqueen, Last Perfection, and Killed by Memories might swallow this, but I'm not comfortable giving this band a full recommendation till they start nourishing the more endearing aspects of their sound. Am I jaded? Probably. But, I've got the feeling a lot of our readers are too.
