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Hand To Hand - A Perfect Way to Say Goodbye

Rating

RIYL

Hopesfall
Across Five Aprils
Dead Poetic
Alexisonfire

Label

Lifeforce Records

Tracklist

1. Preamble
2. Allude
3. The Arson
4. Insult With Injuries
5. Reused Decision
6. Predictable Gathering
7. A Silver Medal
8. Bravo
9. In A Name
10. Confiding In A Whisper
11. Track 11

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Recent Ratings
Rick Gebhardt

If you’re not a fan of emocore, I’ll save you a minute or two and tell you to stop reading this review now. Hand to Hand’s A Perfect Way to Say Goodbye is the epitome of worn, tired, and unoriginal “scene” music (i.e. screamo). However, they do what they do well, and I must give them credit for that.

Hand to Hand’s version of screamo is perhaps a bit more metal influenced than their musical brethren, incorporating some quick little guitar runs in “Preamble,” some tapping (or hammer-ons/pull-offs) in “A Silver Medal, ” and a few breakdowns scattered here and there. In general, metal-sounding riffs carry most of the scream-y verses, and chords provide the backing for the melodic choruses. These melodic passages are Hand to Hand’s forte—the singer has a strong voice and the harmonies are done well. “In A Name” is the softest, most melodic song on the album (other than “Confiding in a Whisper,” which is simply an instrumental acoustic song), and has a great, catchy chorus—indicative of what they could do if they ease off on the screaming verses.

In terms of production, the CD is done pretty well, though something about it seems off or slightly unfinished. I think the guitars could use a little more distortion and treble, and that the overall mix could use some treble in the high frequencies to give it a little “sparkle.” Other than that, it’s pretty good.

If Hand to Hand can cut back on the cliché screaming and perhaps focus more on their songwriting, I think they could maybe impress some people other than scene kids. In the meantime though, fans of emocore/screamo will very much like this release, for it is about as good as this stale genre can get. I find the music to be pretty bland and unoriginal which leaves me unfulfilled, but I can see how it could be considered a good emocore album.

--Rohan Kohli