Review of School For Heroes - Listen

I feel dirty. First, look at those scores above - done? Those would lead you to believe this is a killer 'metal' album, right? Truth is, the musicianship is great, the production is fine, and the songwriting is rather good. All are deserving of those scores. The problem? The genre. Most MR readers would never give this kind of album a second glance, and while it took some time, Listen grew on me despite its hardcore-lite, MTV2-ready, commercially viable sound (think Chevelle with a more hardcore, emo (duh, its Tribunal) edge), and deserves the scores above regardless of genre. First, the vocals are predominantly rock-metal, with an occasional hardcore anger ridden burst, but those are pretty rare. Second, the material gleans plenty from new 'metal" (not 'nu'-metal) acts such as Atreyu, Sevendust, Orange 9mm, Hotwire, and newer (and suckier) Poison the Well. All that being said, Listen is rather enjoyable in a purely objective, non-biased way, and is getting a surprising amount of airplay amid the usual death, grind, and Viking metal in my rotation. Rather than rely on predictable breakdowns and telegraphed sung/yelled choruses, SFH actually write well-conceived, deep songs that are neither simple nor predictable. There are plenty of acceptable metal riffs on display that probably won't get Joe Deathhead or sXe tough guy too exited, but those with a more open ear might find themselves rewinding the opening riffs to "Burning the Bed", "Telephone", and "Ornament" more than a few times (I did), especially on a summer day with the windows down and a more upbeat outlook on the world permeating your train of thought. Even for the sXe, hardcore crowd, this might be a little tame, as it lacks the true, down-to-earth brutality of even 'heavy' acceptable bands like Throwdown, Hatebreed, and others, but it makes up for that with catchy, well-crafted songs and a simple, satisfying fifty-minute listen that your non metal family and friends can tolerate. Nothing on the album is going to get any kind of pit going, but their more intense moments are worthy of a slight head bob and hand tap, even though they are the afterthought to the mostly emotional, moody, softcore metal. If anything, this album shows Tribunal's diversity, as this seems to bridge the gap between their harder bands like Darkness Remains and Animosity, and their purely commercial punkier artists like Amazing Device and Brand New Disaster. Now, I must shower and listen to Misery Index before I start to question my musical integrity.

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School For Heroes

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