I'm not sure if I am convinced by Emery or not. At times 'The Weak's End' is a fantastic record of thudding riffs and piercing screams, while in others it is far more mellow and considered. At times this works well. variety is the spice of life after all, but I get the impression that Emery haven't quite found their sound, allowing the band to come across as a muddle of different styles rather than their own unique imprint. At times there are exasperating screams and mid-tempo changes, at others old-skool metal riffs and bittersweet singing. It's all been seen and done before, but thankfully for the most part Emery do it better.
The record starts off so well too, with 'Walls' being a fantastic effort which yells, kicks and bites its way through three minutes of post-hardcore riffery. As lead singer Toby Morrell bursts into the line "are you listening?" - your ears do prick up. A fantastic opening track, if this is the only song you have heard by the band then don't expect too much more of the same - this is pretty much as aggressive as it gets. From here on in it's mood swing central, featuring a singer who's pissed off 'cos his gal left him, yet he still loves her really. Predictable stuff, but as I said previously, done better than most. 'By All Accounts (Today Was A Disaster') features some nice juxtaposing aggression and melody, while 'The Secret' has a clever breakdown which again sticks out. The rest though is pretty standard fare; there's nothing particularly wrong with it, but at the same time the songs don't leap from the speakers either.
Emery have talent because several of the tracks demand your attention, but their brilliance isn't consistent. There are far better, and far worse, albums than 'The Weak's End', so if you fancy checking out a new band from this emo explosion, you could do a lot worse than Emery. My only hang up is that most of this album is non-descript and it's neither here nor there, leaving the listener craving that little bit more.
www.emerymusic.com
Tooth and Nail/Golf Records
Paul
