Down Falls An Empire Review - 9.1 / 10

Here is a nice track-by-track review of the album, posted by ROCKER AJ on the www.c4tv.co.nz website - click here to read the original.

THE REVIEW

One Moment In Time starts off with gentle sounds and a slow heartbeat, before kicking in the instruments. These instruments begin to get louder, which gets your own heart racing. Gibb’s vocals begin on the track. The choruses are insanely catchy, and the verses lack no luster. I actually really like Steve Gibb’s vocals in general. They have there own sound, unlike a lot of stuff that has the vocalist sounding like another band. A pretty good introduction to this band. I always love bridges in songs, and the one in this one is no exception. A bit of silence from the vocalist and soft instruments get you braced for something big, and you get that, but not as loud as a raging guitar solo. Normally at this point I get sick of the song, but I want way more from this track. A good opener!

Track #2 is the latest single, the kickarse Sweet December, which starts right as One Moment In Time fades away. A bloody good song overall. Simple songs and somewhat complicated drumming works perfectly. Gibbs vocals don’t cease to amaze me in this track. A solid song in my opinion! However, the beat and tempo doesn’t fall far from the One Moment In Time tree. Could this become another Dear Agony? Either way, it’s pretty damn catchy. Lyrics are also pretty good! I’m willing to put These Four Walls in the spot of best New Zealand lyric writers. Lyrics I expect from a typical american band.

Lay It Out starts nice and soft, the kind of soft music that I like. Catchy, calming, clever, and cool. Lyrics are pretty damn relatable in my case. Gray Vicker’s guitar works perfectly against the amazing drums from relative Brad. One of my favourites! And best of all, it’s different from what we’ve already heard! I’m already humming the bridge of “Lay it out, lay it out for me”, so it has lasting power!

I don’t know why, but I abosulte love albums that fade into the next track. It seems so smooth. Lay It Out fades smoothely into Nevergreen, a fast paced hard rock track that showcases the abilities of all the instrumentalists, including the vocalist. It’s addictive, but doesn’t have the energy shown in previous tracks. It may be because I’m writing this just before midnight, but.. eh, excuses. I love the drumming in this track, as well as the verses. The choruses aren’t as great, but they’re still very solid. Lyrics are again amazing. Forgettable, but only just!

Onto the first single, Walk Away. The guitars are catchy, and the bass is great too! Drumming is simple, but typical for this genre. The song is a bit too quiet for my liking. The lyrics, once again, show that this band is much better than most of the other NZ bands in this aspect, a country whose lyrics are normally far too cryptic to make sense, or completely fucked up so they don’t make any sense at all. The guitar solo matches the song perfectly. All in all, catchy, but again forgettable.

Moving straight into Matter Of Opinion, a song so far unfamiliar from the rest of the album, without becomign completely different and unlikable. The lyrics are prettly relatable, my favourite set of lyrics. The vocals are once again amazing, and the perfect blend of guitars, bass and drums fix together to make a jigsaw puzzle known as a “good song”. Good song because it is obviously good, but not great, as this is one of the tracks I tend to forget. Funny, this also has a guitar solo. I normally remember guitar solo tracks.

We Are the End is one of the catchier, jumpier songs. These Four Wall’s party track. It’s face paced, addictive rock at it’s best. Who cares about lyrics when you have something as hooky as this! One of my favourites off the album in fact. I’m loving the various guitar rifts implemented in this track! The change from fast to slower is so unnoticable that it won’t distract you, meaning that the merge is verging on perfection. The choruses are mind sticking as well! The choir at the end of the song adds a great effect against the fading vocals of Gibb!

Despite popular belief, Love Song is not what the title implies. It’s a softer song, that keeps it’s catchiness. Gibbs’ vocals are superb on this track. Also, it’s been awhile since I did a review on a song with a swear word, besides Minutes to Midnight (which I’ve become used to), that the word “fuck” in this song seems strange and unfamiliar. Once again, the lyrics shine even with the dirty word! It’s a pretty awesome track. I suggest getting it! Soon as the electric guitar solo randomly appears, the song becomes even better! More energy, which is always a plus!

Fly Home is my favourite single from this album. The sharp drums, addictive guitars, perfect vocals, awesome bass and great lyrics. Everything in this track just works perfectly. The verses are softer than the chorus, and it still works amazingly, and the bridge is better than the rest of the song! You should have already heard the song before, so I’ll go to the next one.

The guitar rifts, and drumming, of the next track, Lilith, is one of my favourite combinations in any song! I’m loving the way the vocals just fit in the instruments! I wish I wrote the lyrics of the chorus myself, they’re amazingly good. This is one of my favourites from this album. If you don’t hear this song at all in your life, you are really missing out on something great. Whoever sings backing vocals has a pretty awesome scream too.

The first track I heard from these guys was Under the Shadows. The guitars, bass and drumming just work greatly. The vocals, with help from the backing vocalist, work amazing. Lyrics are once again great, and the song is yet again catchy! This song will get stuck to your head quicker than an unwanted commercial pop song.

The longest track by far is really two tracks in one, so I’ll treat them as two different tracks. To the Loved & The Lost is a sad, slow song about, well, The Loved and the Lost. The lyrics deal with the sad topic of suicide in the first verse, and the second verse an unfortunate death in a drunken car crash of someone who was merely a passenger. Very touching vocals, made even sadder by the vocals from Gibbs, which completely fit the song. After the second chorus, it gets a little bit harder, without seeming out of place. You completely forget that this song is 5 minutes while listening to this. It’s actually very amazing. My favourite from this album.

To the Loved & the Lost has a second track that appears after you think the album has finished, which I will call Bonus Track (as the booklet doesn’t even have the lyrics to it). It starts off with very soft keyboard and guitars, followed by vocals from Gibbs. This albums minor (very minor) eye drooper song. Unlike every other sleeping song I wrote about in my prior reviews, this one is actually semi-good. I personally blame Steve Gibb’s energetic vocals, and the fact it begins to get harder slowly. The album ends the way it began, a steady heartbeat.

THE CONCLUSION

For Fans Of: Saosin, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Hoobastank

Audio convert (when I upload the tracks to youtube): To the Loved & The Lost, Lilith, We Are the End

Rating: 9.1/10