I've never been disappointed by this band, but Until We Have Faces, their third studio album, is in my opinion their best work to date. I loved End Of Silence, and Innocence And Instinct was definitely a solid sophomore release, but this album is Red at their finest. Everything is fine tuned, resulting in an album that sounds like the band members poured every ounce of themselves into it.
The album opens up with "Feed The Machine", which follows a formula that those familiar with the band will recognize from the hit single off their debut ("Breathe Into Me"), but done even better. Michael Barnes is at the top of his game vocally, with his cleans sounding even more melodious and his screams having enough force behind them to drive home any point he wants. Anthony Armstrong's guitar work is just as high quality as the previous albums, the bass is manned expertly by Randy Armstrong (who also helps out on backing vocals with the other Armstrong), and the drums are once again helmed by Joe Rickard. "Faceless" is up next with a driving guitar and drum attack, with some nice string accompaniment interspersed throughout. Track three, "Lie To Me (Denial)", has a slow, electronic build as the full force of the intro kicks in before pulling back for the verse. Mr. Barnes vocals flow perfectly with the energy of the song and will have you singing along to the anthemic chorus before long. "Let It Burn" is a ballad - plain and simple. Slow beat, electronic and string elements, harmonized vocals, and a layered chorus; this song has it all. Though the next song keeps the pace in line with this slightly more melancholy beat, "Buried Beneath" is definitely not a ballad. Driving guitars and drum work focusing on the low end and the toms give it a nice heavy feel. "Not Alone" brings us to the halfway mark of the album and is an even more moving ballad than "Let It Burn" was.
"Watch You Crawl" kickstarts the second half of this masterpiece with a wicked little guitar riff. You can tell that track eight, "The Outside", is gonna be heavy as soon as it starts. The vocals start out a little muted and the screams fit nicely in with the tone of the song. "Who We Are" follows it up with a straightforward modern rock-styled feel that changes things up a little. Red slows things down again with "Best Is Yet To Come". I can't help but think of The Diary Of Jane era Breaking Benjamin on this song, which is far from a complaint. The clean guitars, the vocals, the drums, and the transitions just bring that band to mind. The final track on the standard edition is "Hymn For The Missing". It opens with a slow piano piece with Barnes singing along. Strings are added and some atmospheric female vocals add even more depth to this track. It is the perfect ending to the album.
If you were lucky enough to have pre-ordered the album on iTunes, you were also gifted with a twelfth track: "Until We Have Faces". Does anyone else find it strange that the title track is a bonus? Anyway, it slowly builds with a choir and some haunting piano before it decides to kick you in the teeth with a heavy guitar/drum onslaught that layers some strings into the mix. Then Barnes lets loose some truly metal growls with a breakdown that would get any metalhead off his feet and into a pit. Then all of a sudden it stops. It caught me so off guard. I felt like it ended too soon, like it was building and leading into something, but it just cut out. This was my only complaint throughout the whole album, but it left me hanging.
These Tennessee boys have a gift for some good old alt-metal, and they perform it perfectly. Brilliant songwriting, skillful musicianship, and a passion that shows through on every song make Until We Have Faces well worth a purchase.
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