A Voice like Rhetoric - Ethos

Rating

single starsingle starsingle star

RIYL

The Fall Of Troy
Therefore I Am
Chiodos
Taking Back Sunday

Tracklist

1. Billie Enforcie
2. Never Trust A French Auto Mechanic
3. Please Don’t Call Me A Mindless Philosophy
4. Breathing Is Believing
5. Familiarity Breeds Contempt
6. Man, Multiplication Is Hard
7. Pssst, Our Vestige Is Showing
8. Foxhole
9. I’m Sort Of A Perfectionis… Perfectionis… T
10. The Dutch Are Practical, It’s A Hub
11. Your New Disco-Tech

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In case you aren’t familiar with the concept of mathematics in music, here’s a small overview of the idea before developing any notions about A Voice Like Rhetoric: Music is written in scales that detail the speed and timing of notes and stops. While a lot of music is typically written in the 4/4 scale, music that utilizes the principles of mathematics is more commonly written in odd timed scales that can change multiple times throughout the piece. The essence of math rock is this rhythmic complexity and the development of tone and stops. It is a departure from popular music and is most poignant in core genres – but this is not to say that it cannot be found elsewhere. This is an overview of math rock on its most basic level. Ready? Here we go.

Math rock is a sub-genre that has been growing exponentially in recent years. While the origins of math in music dates back to the late 15th century, it is still considered a fairly new and a unique spin on the typical music genre in general and there are no shortage of bands that have stepped up to the math rock podium in an attempt to modify a punk rock or progressive sound. And while this type of music requires more than a basic comprehension of typical chords, it follows a formula that is commonplace amongst those who are veterans of the mathematical concept. Simply put, math rock isn’t really doing much to expand on its sound in the niche it has created for itself.

A Voice Like Rhetoric is somewhere between the math rock stylings of Norma Jean and Look Mexico (Yes, that’s a pretty large gap) and will most likely draw comparisons to The Fall Of Troy. Basically they borrow from the screamo and math rock genres to form a sound that is user friendly as far as techs and scenesters are concerned. A Voice Like Rhetoric aren’t reinventing the wheel here and that’s not necessarily a downfall for Ethos. But having a sound so similar to one of the leading bands in the genre can sometimes hinder how your musical output is perceived. This is to say that, no matter how much you try to differentiate the The Fall Of Troy sound from A Voice Like Rhetoric, it is difficult to do.

The disk is full of tone and lead as one would expect from a math rock heavy hitter, but at times it seems overdone. It seems like that this style of lead guitar and the poignancy of tone is the only differentiating quality between this band and Chiodos. It’s as if one would listen to a lead track with the rhythm, bass, and drum tracks turned all the way down – leaving something to be desired. Instrumentally, the lead work is difficult to pull off and must make for an interesting live set (no doubt appealing to techs) but it interferes with the overall collaborative effort that is so important to a band's sound. In a sense, the same thing that makes the disk notable for some, will deter others from this release. It’s like your little brother forgetting to take his Ritalin and then shredding in all his emo glory, sans band mates. As good as this young group of musicians are, they get lost in an amateur mistake that shows a separation between respective instruments. Perhaps in their next release there will be a greater collaborative effort rather than a trade off between scream and lead.

--Chad Quenneville

Author

Composing
Last updated: 09/29/2009 08:59PM

Comments

ctsdrums
05/22/2007
10:22AM
"scales" Chad? do you have ANY formal musical training? grab a music theory book. to assume that there is "math" involved here is absurd. addition, subtraction, long division? no math. this is such a rock-centric review it's aggravating.

listen to the Voice Like Rhetoric CD and count. it's mostly in 4/4 time signature buddy.
el badman
05/22/2007
11:40AM
Age: 31
Location
El Paso, TX
Hmmm, I don't really see what's "math rock" about this band and release...Sounds like another post-hardcore CD to me. They're certainly not playing on the same level than The Fall Of Troy, they're miles away.

I used to hate cell phones, but now I hate car accidents

Bells and Whistles
05/22/2007
01:20PM
Location
Edmonton, AB
i think the term you're looking for is "time signature" not "scale"
Composing
05/22/2007
03:53PM
Age: 25
Location
Waterloo, Ontario
alright so my review had a couple major mistakes and I probably could have been more informed about scales and such. But math rock doesn't really have a strict set of guidelines and to say that it has actual elements of math, like long division, is misleading and just plain patronizing - I'm looking forward to a better review that includes all of the other things that I included in mine - but considering this is such a mediocre release I'm not expecting too much. Until you can put your money where your mouth is, the patronizing is not appreciated.

Top Ten of 2009 http://www.decoymusic.com/users/3747/top_tens/2009

babarm87
05/22/2007
04:04PM
Location
Los Angeles
bands like this should really stop the awful sing/scream combination. i used to think it was cool at one point, but this is sounding more and more lame every day.

plus, there is trace amounts of math rock here, but not enough to consider them as a math rock outfit.

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