- Feb 9, 2005
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Phoenix Mourning – When Excuses Become Antiques
Metalblade Records – 3984-14564-2 – April 18th, 2006
By Zack Attaran
In most cases, it has been a long taught virtue not to judge a book by its cover, or a band by its name. However, “In most cases” is quite the stretchable phrase, so when I saw the promo package at my doorstep, let’s just say I washed away all of my childhood morals and judged the book like it’s front cover consisted of an emo haircut, slit wrists and enough angst to fill a bathtub. Oh, how the CD gave me fear as I cautiously slipped it into the player. As I read the band name – The Phoenix Mourning- And the title, When Excuses Become Antiques I prepared myself for the onslaught of emo I knew would come. Bam, there it was, it was emo alright, but hell, I actually liked it.
So here we have Metalblade's latest incarnation: a screamo quintet from Florida with much to look forward to. Hell, so would I if I had just released a successful debut and was gearing up for extensive touring This is impressive for a genre that comes second to taking a piss in my book. Honestly, with all the screamo crap out there today these guys deserve props for ousting most of the whine in their clean vocals and creating somewhat original guitar lines (most of the time). In addition to that, the drumming is rather fresh and mixes things up instead of having normal double bass following the guitars. Combine that with the warm feeling instilled by the top notch production and you have a damn good CD
So now we come to the score. All that’s been administered so far is praise, and nothing but it. 10/10, right? Well, Phoenix Mourning do fall short in several places. For one, they managed to slip in several songs that are utter crap, and are only good for radio appeal because of trendy lyrics and blatantly ripped off guitar lines. On top of that, Phoenix Mourning probably harbors one of the worst screams in metal. I’d rather listen to a banshee reciting the entire bible than listen to the screamed segments of their songs. Overall, this might be the most surprising release for me of 2006, though. I’ve never liked screamo before, but if you give this a chance, there are quite a few tracks that you might enjoy. Oh, and I think it goes without saying that this goes into the running for best album artwork of the year.
6.5/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Official Phoenix Mourning Website
Official Metalblade Website
Metalblade Records – 3984-14564-2 – April 18th, 2006
By Zack Attaran
In most cases, it has been a long taught virtue not to judge a book by its cover, or a band by its name. However, “In most cases” is quite the stretchable phrase, so when I saw the promo package at my doorstep, let’s just say I washed away all of my childhood morals and judged the book like it’s front cover consisted of an emo haircut, slit wrists and enough angst to fill a bathtub. Oh, how the CD gave me fear as I cautiously slipped it into the player. As I read the band name – The Phoenix Mourning- And the title, When Excuses Become Antiques I prepared myself for the onslaught of emo I knew would come. Bam, there it was, it was emo alright, but hell, I actually liked it.
So here we have Metalblade's latest incarnation: a screamo quintet from Florida with much to look forward to. Hell, so would I if I had just released a successful debut and was gearing up for extensive touring This is impressive for a genre that comes second to taking a piss in my book. Honestly, with all the screamo crap out there today these guys deserve props for ousting most of the whine in their clean vocals and creating somewhat original guitar lines (most of the time). In addition to that, the drumming is rather fresh and mixes things up instead of having normal double bass following the guitars. Combine that with the warm feeling instilled by the top notch production and you have a damn good CD
So now we come to the score. All that’s been administered so far is praise, and nothing but it. 10/10, right? Well, Phoenix Mourning do fall short in several places. For one, they managed to slip in several songs that are utter crap, and are only good for radio appeal because of trendy lyrics and blatantly ripped off guitar lines. On top of that, Phoenix Mourning probably harbors one of the worst screams in metal. I’d rather listen to a banshee reciting the entire bible than listen to the screamed segments of their songs. Overall, this might be the most surprising release for me of 2006, though. I’ve never liked screamo before, but if you give this a chance, there are quite a few tracks that you might enjoy. Oh, and I think it goes without saying that this goes into the running for best album artwork of the year.
6.5/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Official Phoenix Mourning Website
Official Metalblade Website
