36 Crazyfists - The Tide and Its Takers
Rating
RIYL
Killswitch EngageBloodsimple
As I Lay Dying
All That Remains
Release Date
05/27/2008
Label
Ferret MusicTracklist
1. The All Night Lights2. We Gave It Hell
3. The Back Harlow Road
4. Clear The Coast
5. Waiting On A War
6. Only A Year Or So...
7. Absent Are The Saints
8. Vast And Vague
9. When Distance Is The Closest Reminder
10. Northern November
11. The Tide And Its Takers
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Self admittedly, I'm not really a fan of metalcore. It's easily one of my least favourite genres, but I do have a penchant for bands that have a knack for writing a decent melody, combining it with a few hooks and a certain accessibility, and yet still manage to retain some of the genre's aggression.
36 Crazyfists are most definitely a band that tick all the aforementioned boxes. Releasing album after album of quality stuff, slowly getting tighter and slicker over the years; they've grow into a fully-fledged and respectable metalcore act. Their previous album, Rest Inside The Flames, found the band with a more sleek and melodic metalcore sound and The Tide And Its Takers follows on in similar fashion. Produced by guitarist Steve Holt and, like their previous release, has been given a gloss-over by award-wining mixer/producer Andy Sneap, whose had his hand is some of the better metalcore releases of the last five years. He really does have a finishing Midas-touch, as this record is pretty slick, but not overly so.
Letting you know the band isn't mucking about, they open up with what is among their most brutal songs, “The All Night Lights.” Going straight for the throat, it's still caked in melody and might be one of the most enjoyable metalcore songs since Killswitch Engage's “The End of Heartache” or All That Remain's “This Calling.” Vocalist Brock Lindow screams over spiralling riffing and crushing breakdowns that never sound cliché, and as brutal as it is, you can't get the tune, or the chorus, out of your head.
The band do mix it up a bit, and The Tide and Its Takers maybe isn't strictly a true 'metalcore' release. There are, dare I say, some nu-metal and post-hardcore elements to be found on certain songs. Not that that's a bad thing at all - it's kind of what sets the band apart from their contemporaries - but I'm sure it'll have a few hardcore fans of the metalcore genre complaining that it's too accessible or 'poppy', as on tracks such as “Clear the Coast” and “Waiting on a War” Brock's vocals bustle and strain with emotion over immensely catchy and enjoyable melodies.
Further mixing it up, and something that is new for the band, is the initially slowish “Only a Year or So...”; a moving ballad-type song between lovers separated by war, having Winslow trading verses with an unknown female vocalist as the song switches between quiet passages and melodic ones, coming to an end as Brock's emotional wail trails off excellently closing the song, weirdly sounding similar to Jared Leto. Another impressive vocal performance, which is worth noting, comes courtesy of guest vocalist Candace Kucsulain of Walls of Jericho on “Vast and Vague”. Her almost androgynous vocals are a nice touch on one of the heaviest tracks on the album.
36 Crazyfists aren't playing any songs that are going to garner any mainstream radio airplay, and while this record isn't as strong, nor does it seem to boast as many hooks as Rest Inside the Flames did – just narrowly missing out, mind you - it's just as catchy and as ferocious. Machine-gun drum blasts, breakdowns and frenetic guitar-work are aplenty; and all this coupled with Brock's alluring and impressive vocal range which never sounds 'whiney' or lacks conviction once, is arguably the stand-out feature of this band as you simply cannot stop certain lines boring into your mind.
The bottom line is this: 36 Crazyfists are hardly pioneering metalcore or pushing the boundaries of the genre, but they are playing some of the most melodic in the genre, and The Tide and Its Takers is a thoroughly enjoyable metalcore release - one that gets into your head for all the right reasons.
--Rich Taylor
Comments
Spokane, Washington
...and the lead singers names is Brock Lindow.
Current Listenings:
7 Horns 7 Eyes - "Throes of Absolution"
Horse Feathers - "Cynic's New Year"
Andrew Bird - "Break It Yourself"
Sigur Ros - "Valtari"
Rocky Votolato - "Television of Saints"
Janus - "Nox Aeris"
Blues Traveler - "25"
Minnesota
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Bedford, OH
rasta
PA
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Leeds, England
Whoops :D .
I pretty much like both their last two releases the same, and I think they're both stronger - on a whole - than A Snow Capped Romance.
Florida, USA
The band indeed do not push any boundaries, but they play incredibly well within them. I'd take this over some watered down, passionless bullshit like the new FASSW, that's for damn sure.
Also, A Snow Capped Romance will always be their best album.
Spokane, Washington
Current Listenings:
7 Horns 7 Eyes - "Throes of Absolution"
Horse Feathers - "Cynic's New Year"
Andrew Bird - "Break It Yourself"
Sigur Ros - "Valtari"
Rocky Votolato - "Television of Saints"
Janus - "Nox Aeris"
Blues Traveler - "25"
Green Brook, NJ
Sacramento, CA
always appreciated.
I'm not here to make things better; only to observe and pass judgement.
Washington, DC
And the titular final song was actually pretty good.