This…is going to be brutal. Tracing Back Roots by We Came as Romans was released on July 23, 2013, through Equal Vision records. It is the band’s third full length record, and it features Kyle Pavone on clean vocals, and Dave Stephens on screamed vocals. My experience with We Came as Romans has been fairly limited, as I have previously only heard two songs, “To Plant a Seed” and “Broken Statues”. I thought that they were both pretty interesting songs, and both sounded quite well. However, I didn’t know what to expect when I began to listen to this album, and sadly, I wish that I had never did. I found the album to be fundamentally flawed in so many different ways, and the erratic production touches definitely do not help their cause.
The biggest flaw with Tracing Back Roots is that it honestly sounds more like a pop album than a metal album. Most of the songs are driven by Kyle’s autotuned clean vocals, and Dave’s screamed vocals are quite limited. Unlike something like “To Plant a Seed”, the screamed vocals on this album do not transition well into the clean vocals. A lot of times, the screamed vocals would suddenly stop, and some pop, synthesized beat will come in that turns the mood of the track around 180 degrees. Later, Kyle’s incredibly high, autotuned cleaned vocals come in, and finish off the song, and you’re left wondering whether you’re listening to metal, or pop music. One example of this would be in the song “Ghosts”, during 1:51-1:52. Dave’s screams are stopped abruptly, and the song leads into a soft synth beat, and Kyle gets uncomfortably close and repeatedly whispers “change the way you live.” At that point, if you’re seeking some good metalcore, you would probably turn the song off. The transition is just too awkward, and this is not just a problem with this track but continuously with many of the tracks. After listening to the album for a few times, I feel like WCAR really focused on catchy, stand-out, choruses to bring the songs together, and produce that “I feel good about myself” type of feeling for their listeners. If so, what’s the point of utilizing screamed vocals in the first place, why not just become a pop or rock band? If they’re going to just throw in some screamed vocals here and there, and then kill the vibe with the autotune, why not just clean-sing the album all the way through? Another gripe I have about the production on this album is its layering of synth over screamed vocals. If you listen to the last song, “Through the Darkest Dark and Brightest Bright”, you will hear Dave screaming over some 8-bit synthesized keyboards, and both aspects sound so out of place and incoherent. They could have layered some cool guitar work and riffing that would’ve gone well with the unclean vocals, but instead they chose synth beats that just destroy the mood of the track. Why?
Lyrical work throughout the entire album feels very repetitive and recycled. Almost every song talks about the same concept: feeling good about yourself, don’t give up, stand up to adversity, etc. I get that they are trying to invoke a positive message and a positive feeling to their listeners, but these lyrics have no depth to them and look like they could be written by a twelve year old kid. If I had to choose three words to describe these lyrics, they would be bland, boring, and simple, and by adding a repetitive factor to that, there’s really no point in exploring these lyrics. Guitar work is just like the lyrics, boring and bland. Very often, the guitar is completely silent, overtaken by the synth beats, especially when the autotuned vocals get close and intimate. However, when it is on, it is basically all power chords. Chug, chug, chug, all the way through. Overall, the instrumentals get very boring quickly, and even produce a soporific effect.
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Tracing Back Roots by We Came as Romans was definitely a disappointing album for me. Even guitar work on “To Plant a Seed” is better than the guitar work on this album. Their use of screamed vocals is very confusing to me, and I still can’t quite figure out the purpose. I came into this album with an open mind, but I unfortunately can’t see much talent portrayed throughout this release. Please leave some comments down below on whether you agreed or disagreed with me, and why. If you really liked this album, feel free to tell me your opinions and share your thoughts. If you want to hate on me for bashing them, feel free to leave the hate down below as well. Next album up will be “Tomorrow We Die Alive” by Born of Osiris. Thank you very much for reading, and please check back soon for more metal news and reviews.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAPNfUOpegI