The big story surrounding Story of the Year's last album was how they had ditched the generic pop-emo stylings (which would doubtlessly have served them well for one or possibly two albums) and moved into the arena dominated by the likes of Thrice. This album is a continuation of that trend.
It is not, however,
In The Wake... part II. The trademark polished vocals are still there, but they're frequently elbowed aside by some fairly aggressive screams and a riff or three. The riffs are, in essence, what SotY are trying to build themselves on. Some of them are like a watered-down version of something like Pantera, and I imagine the famed choreography which goes with them is going to complement such stylings on their upcoming UK tour.
In fact, aside from an exceedingly ill-placed interlude which sounds like the 'tension-building music' which accompanied a view inside Shredder's Technodrome in the old Turtles animated series, this is largely a damn solid release. (Although 'Terrified' sounds like something you should find on the cutting room floor from
Page Avenue and, thankfully, is a legacy to times past.)
The successes are numerous - 'Choose Your Fate' sounds startlingly like latter-day Rise Against, 'Tell me (pac)' has a riff that will knock you sideways, and 'The Antidote' is a fast-paced anthem which somehow sounds like it was written for Guitar Hero 4 (see 2:27). The formula of grinding riff, soaring vocal, more riff/scream is one that's stuck on repeat, but not one that's too off-putting; it delivers on the promises of the previous album and in that respect should, I suppose, be recognised.
The only reason why this could feasibly not do as well as it ought to is the current fascination with mediocre pop-punk/hardcore crossover acts; despite the 'aggression' link, these are styles leaving the station on opposite platforms. But if you come to
The Black Swan relatively openly then I think your typical Punktastic reader is going to love this; if you were a fan of the last album it will undoubtedly riff your ruddy tits off.
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