Farewell To Words
Tear Down This Wall
6.9
Confusing. At first, I thought Farewell To Words was a doom band judging by their cover art, so that was a little different right off the bat. After many listens to this EP, Tear Down This Wall slowly reveals itself to be an interesting little disc that shows both the strongest and weakest aspects of this young German outfit, and ends up being quite intriguing if you’re into this sort of experimental music. For those of us who are unaccustomed to, or uninterested in more ambitious metalcore, this EP probably won’t alter perceptions much, but at least there are some positive things to take in along the way during this short, rocky ride.
Now by ‘experimental’, I don’t mean vastly different or innovative in any way, really. That’s okay, of course, as Farewell To Words dabble in the realm of oceanic ambiance during closer “The Empty Stare”. This nine and a half-minute conclusion makes the strongest and most lasting impression out of the 5 songs featured here, sounding much more like Cult Of Luna or Isis than At The Gates. A slow and steady buildup leads into explosive screaming along with stone-grinding slow, ponderous rhythms, as clean vocals segue into further trippy moments before returning to more impassioned screams and huge, nearly euphoric riffs leading to an exhausted finish. If the other four tracks were of the same quality as “The Empty Stare”, I’d be giving this some pretty crazy scores.
This brings me to the songs that come before the excellent closer, which are much more familiar to the ear. Unfortunately, some of this is really hard to listen to, and the vocals are the reason why. Perhaps it’s for the best that Jessi is no longer with the band (the group has since added new vocalist, Katharina), because her clean singing is painfully flat to listen to during “Blue Turned To Scarlet Eyes”, a song that follows pretty basic melodic metalcore patterns (dueling harmonies, breakdowns, pinches). “In Front Of Your Hope” adds elements of heavier bands such as Heaven Shall Burn, but the clean vocals, both male and female, weaken this tune and mesh terribly with the disjointed, unfocused musical choices of going heavy to light with bad transitions. “Share Of Seconds” reminds me a little bit of Thine Eyes Bleed as far as the tightly-picked riffs and off-kilter rhythm section goes, but the flow of the tune is choppy and sounds awkwardly pieced together the more I listen to it.
I’m trying to figure out if this EP is average with a few moments of sheer brilliance, or fantastic with a few spaces of plainness to be suffered through. It matters which one it is, because there’s a big difference between an unremarkable group who temporarily manage to catch lightning in a bottle, and a great band that makes daft creative decisions. There’s just too many things going on at once for such a short release, from KSE-styled, generic modern metal, to compelling doom-laden drone, and none of it really relates to each other. With a great production job and ample musical talent to behold, it really bothers me that after spending so much time with this disc, that I still cannot decide if enthusiasts of the genre will respond well to Farewell To Words or not, since they're good, but perform such polarizing music. Very frustrating.
