36 Crazyfists has always been one of my favorite bands ever, and this new release does not disappoint. The band's last release,
Rest Inside the Flames, was a very tough act to follow, arguably the group's most complete release ever.
Review: 36 Crazyfists - The Tide and Its Takers
does a great job of following up, and it comes very close to the best work that 36 has done, though I'm sure it doesn't fully surpass any of the previous albums--but that's very hard to do, considering how consistently awesome these guys are.
Since this is the bands' fourth studio release, I was worried that it might start to sound stale, or that in an effort to avoid that, it might try to sound too different and end up killing everything that was great about the last releases. Luckily, 36 Crazyfists have done a good job of keeping their signature sound while still progressing forward with new material.
The only thing that threw me off about the album at first was the screaming method that lead singer Brock Lindow uses-- it has a dryer sound too it. This turned me off at first, mostly because I love Brock's voice so much, particularly because of the similarities it bears to my own.
His vocal-style change was a bit unexpected, but I liked it after the first listen of the disc. I will miss his old screaming style, but it's not totally gone, he seems to change in and out a bit between the new and the old, which I suppose is better anyway. Brock's singing voice remains unchanged and as unique and quirky as ever.
There is a lot of versatile style on this album. It looks like they guys have experimented with a bit more 'shredding' and fast paced rhythm on songs such as the explosive opening track
"The All Night Lights", and
"Absent are the Saints".
While 36 Crazyfists has always been able to thrash with the best of them, what sets the band apart and makes them amazing is their unique blend of bludgeoning metal with very emotional lyrics, subject matter, and vocals, often all in the same song. The track
"The Black Harlow Road" is the perfect example of this, starting off very mellow, then gearing up for some hard riffing and screams and then winding back down for a very awesome chorus. The single,
"We Gave It Hell" is also a good example of this.
36 Crazyfists - We Gave It Hell
Perhaps the best part of the new songs is the increased technicality-- not that it was ever lacking previously anyway. The song
"Waiting on a War" has a very interesting synchronization of vocals, bass, and guitar towards the end. All of the elements make a similar sound all at the same time, and it repeats for a few seconds. It's a very unique sound that is hard to describe, but very pleasing to the ear.
My favorite song on the album thus far is probably
"Only a Year or So..." because it uses plain speaking for entire verses of the song, much like the track "Waterhaul" from the band's second album
A Snow Capped Romance. The song is about the pain of separation between two loved ones during a time of war, and it has some very emotional writing and is performed very well.
36 Crazyfists - Only a Year or So...
As an interesting side-note, earlier this year I saw 36 Crazyfists with Devildriver. Walls of Jericho was supposed to be there, but they had to leave the tour to record their own upcoming album. Perhaps in an effort to make up for this, Candace Kucsulain, Jericho's vocalist, lends her voice to 36 Crazyfists for
The Tide and its Takers on the track
"Vast and Vague". It's an interesting collaboration because Candace uses melodic singing almost exclusively, which is something that I have only ever heard her use on
one song with her own band.
Review: 36 Crazyfists - The Tide and Its Takers
Overall, the new CD is fantastic, as expected. 36 Crazyfists remain at the top of my list of favorites, the 'most elite' if you will, where I'm sure they'll stay so long as they don't pull an Atreyu on me any time soon
Thank goodness they didn't, I'm looking forward to many more fantastic releases from these guys.
