My Muffin In Your Eyes

Hailing from Rockford, IL, The Color Morale is a five-piece that plays a heavy little blend of post-hardcore/metalcore. Their debut record, We All Have Demons, caught me completely off guard when it was released in 2010 with its extreme juxtaposition of brutality and melody. Their sophomore release, My Devil In Your Eyes, falls right in line with their style, and they execute it perfectly.

The album opens up with “Nerve Endings”, which fades in with some distorted and extremely discordant sounding chords that resolve to a marvelously melodic guitar part with Garret Rapp’s screams layering overtop of them for the verses. Then we get a real taste of how TCM pairs beautiful melody with wicked heaviness as Rapp breaks in with his clean vocals. “Human(s) Being” opens with a speedy little guitar riff and Rapp’s growls pulling you along by the throat the whole time. Alternating between a slow, chugging pace and a blistering hardcore beat, these Illinois boys pull you along for a wild ride on this one. Track three brings us “The Dying Hymn”, a slow starter that builds up steam throughout its entirety and pulls all of that together for a crushing breakdown to close the song. “Be Longing Always” kicks off with some interesting percussive programming before flying into full metal form and hitting you full force in the chest with the double guitar onslaught of John Bross and Ramon Mendoza while Steve Carey pummels you with his work behind the drum kit. Song number five, “Walkers”, switches things up and opens with clean vocals before making the switch back to guttural growls to finish out the verse. The chorus uses a perfect pairing of cleans and screams to give a nice contrast that will get you off your feet in no time.

“Demon Teeth” starts off the second half of this album with a bit of percussion work before it floors it and blows into a full hardcore track reminiscent of Evergreen Terrace mixed with a bit of Comeback Kid. This departure from their standard fare was refreshing, because even though they do what they do incredibly well, it was nice to see them trying something new. Track seven brings us the melodically inclined “Falling Awake”, whose intro is dominated by clean vocals and completely undistorted guitars. The growls make their appearances after this to continue TCM’s trend of mating heavy and heavenly.

I’m a huge fan of melodic guitar chords (if you want examples, go check out anything Misery Signals has done). “Quote On Quote” immediately caught my attention because of its use of these chords throughout the intro and verse. Now, they’ve made appearances throughout the rest of the album, but this song really let them shine through, and I loved it. Track nine, “This Lost Song Is Yours”, fades in with a simple little guitar riff and lets Rapp run wild with his cleans. This brings us to the album closer: “Fill;Avoid”. This track is extremely unique. Ethereal vocals, atmospheric synth parts, and not a breakdown to be found, “Fill;Avoid” is a cry to their Creator. It gives a haunting end to a phenomenal listen.

The Color Morale is a band I was able to get into immediately because of their obvious talent and their gift for crafting beautiful songs. After not hearing from them after their debut, I was excited when I heard news of their latest release, and it definitely doesn’t disappoint. Be sure to pick up The Color Morale’s My Devil In Your Eyes. You won’t regret it.