Search - Alesana :: On Frail Wings of Vanity & Wax

Next Thursday.

Luke Rounda | Lawrence, KS | 09/06/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Alesana are featured over at Smartpunk.com (with an extra 'S,' no lesss) as of this writing. I sort of take it as a symptom of the times. If you can't quite accept Christina Aguilera as a "maturing musical force with real soul" and care not to listen to hip-hop or the Killers and their many followers, you probably pop versions of Alesana like tabs of acid at Woodstock. For better or for worse.



Looking at it, I notice the song titles. They've got more than one or two words. Think this might be an emo/hardcore band? Hey, "daggers." Not convinced? Elsewhere we have "pathetic," "ordinary" (in the same title) and "hate." But they're just words, after all. Shakespeare invented bunches, which must be why all the bands on the cutting edge try to evoke mirages of good ol' Billy in their dramatic poetry.



Listening to it, it's a mixed bag. There'll be something cool going on with syncopation or breakdowns ("Ambrosia") one minute, but something completely pedestrian and ordinary pops up the next (almost everything else here). Their "Apology" quickly morphs from a weepy, saccharine emo bawlfest into a full-on screamy moshpit exercise. So in a sense, it's got everything the discerning hardcore listener could want in under six minutes.



Maybe for some, the sound of the Chipmunks on the brink of suicide is a refreshing reprieve from the radio, but I've already listened to enough of Thursday to know I don't like them or their ilk very much. Skip it, but if you think the Shakespearian lyrical influence has potential, get the Receiving End of Sirens record ("Between the Heart and the Synapse") instead. Your ears will thank you for years."

It took a while to get this...

C. Dunbar | Flushing, NY United States | 10/17/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"...and if nobody had pointed out to me the inspirations from Greek mythology, I still wouldn't get it.



To start with, Alesana is nothing new. They sound like Aiden, just with more energy, and incomprehensible screaming. Even reading the lyrics while i was listening to the album didnt help, all i heard was some dissonant screams by apparently 3 different vocalists going on at the same time, accompanied by some of the most broken and fragmented guitar work Ive ever heard. The first few times I even tried to listen to it, I was forced to turn it off about halfway through the third track.



Then a friend of mine started talking about it. He pointed out how the first few tracks pay homage to the stories of Icarus and Pygmalion, albeit very brokenly, and I decided to take some notice. Not that Im saying this fact blew me away, but when you hear the music you're expecting whiny songs about heartbreak, when in fact I was getting (though very late) songs about heartbreak when your stone golem decided to hate you. Or songs about why life sucks when youre wax wings have just melted and youre plummeting to earth. Most of this might be me overanalyzing (which I do), but it did interest me.



But I digress. The music is basic. I can't see why they have three guitarists when one or two could have sufficed, I cant see why they have three people screaming when you can't make out a word they are saying, and or why they all look like Davey Havok. If you are a fan of Aiden, My Chemical Romance or bands of that nature, then by all means check this one out. You'll probably love it."

Nothing new

Thew | NJ | 07/20/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This cd sounds like the normal scene core that is popular now, Although i'd say most closely compares to Chiodos. While this cd does fall well short of Chiodos's Debut full length, it does a better job than many of its other counterparts."