|
Everyone has bands they've been following for years. I've got a couple. Up until recently when they decided to go all exclusive and develop a "fanclub" you had to pay money to join, Bleeding Through was one of mine. Yeah, they're not the greatest band in the world but they were one of the first bands I got into before they got famous, so I've been a pretty dedicated fan up until recently. Another is The Dillinger Escape Plan, just because well...they rock. Still another, is Jacksonville, Florida's Evergreen Terrace. I remember several years ago when I had to mail order a copy of the band's Burned Alive By Time, and two days after I got that, I mail ordered for their first full length, Losing All Hope Is Freedom. I then remember waiting what seemed like an eternity for a new album, and it came in the form of a live recording, At Our Worst, and a cover album, Writer's Block. After getting acquainted with the idea that the band was probably going to break up before they put out another record, I was then greeted with the band's last studio album, Sincerity Is An Easy Disguise In This Business. I'll admit, after waiting like three years for a new record that one was a bit of a letdown, but i still loved it anyway, and i listened to it nonstop for weeks. Then, big news that the band had jumped ship from smaller recording label Eulogy Records to corporate heavyweight Metal Blade (which, yeah...to this day i still don't completely understand) and they were in the works with a new record, titled Wolfbiker...a decision almost as strange as the move to Metal Blade. I was pretty confused by ET at this point needless to say, but since the guys had never truly let me down up until now I hoped for the best.
And in so doing, I was rewarded with Wolfbiker, Evergreen Terrace's
2007 debut on Metal Blade Records. This album, by all accounts, rocks.
The record opens up with an awesome track called Bad Energy Troll, an
energetic number fueled more by Andrew Carey's unmistakable hoarse
screams and a pummeling force of guitar riffs, double bass, and the
trademark Evergreen Terrace breakdowns. My first thought was, 'I need
to kick myself for expecting anything less'. A few tracks later, the
band kicks out "Chaney Can't Quite Riff Like Helmet's Page Hamilton", a
track that opens up with an excellent gang vocal melodic singalong,
something that does my old hardcore heart good, and something I never
would've been expecting. Another highlight track is definitely the
awesome "To The First Baptist Church Of Jacksonville" which opens with
the excellent line, "We are the wicked that walk these city streets",
something one can fully anticipate inciting gang singalongs all
throughout the band's next tour, which I certainly hope to catch
(insert obligatory "Come to Pittsburgh" request here). All in all, this
band benefit's from the band's Floridian melodic hardcore roots in
utilizing breakdowns, singalongs, gang vocals and a youthful energy I
certainly wasn't expecting from a band that's been around
for...well...at this point a relatively long time. They take this well
worked formula to the next step by infusing their original sound with a
metallic edge and faster paced more razor sharp guitars and a much more
epic feel to what, from most other bands, wouldn't have been anything
special. Evergreen Terrace scores again. Now that's Wolfbiker.
|
Reviews 
