Mind Equals Blown

A little over a year ago In Fear And Faith released their debut album, Your World On Fire, a generic post-hardcore, dual-vocal, piano-laced album, which was nothing we hadn’t heard before. Since the release, the band has been consistently writing, and touring. After going through a year of constant shows, endless traveling and non-stop experiences, they returned to the studio to record another album. That album is Imperial, and I’m sad to say…absolutely nothing has changed.

You would have expected InFAF to have grown as musicians, going through as many experiences as they did as a band, and to have tried something new on this album. Sorry, not the case. Nothing new here. Same generic synthy post-hardcore album we were listening to just a year ago. Some people might not think that’s a bad thing, and if you loved Your World On Fire then you should really have anything to complain about on Imperial, but I hoped (or even expected) they would step it up a notch. If this band were to break up right now, the only legacy they would leave behind is their stellar cover of Coolio‘s “Gangsters Paradise”

Cody Anderson’s rough screaming vocals aren’t strong enough to be paired with the clean vocals of Scott Barnes, which are actually quite decent, aside from a few strained high-notes. Anderson’s rough, raspy scream is out of place when placed with the crisp guitars, clean drums and piano. I actually think I would have enjoyed the album a bit more had he been removed. He’s not a terrible vocalist, he just doesn’t match up with the tone of rest of the album. “Heavy Lies The Crown”, in which he doesn’t make an appearance, is one of the strongest on the album.

One thing I have to praise is their use of piano. A lot of bands are using keys and synth now-a-days, but few manage to integrate the raw piano sound into their songs. When done correctly this can take an extremely mediocre song and make it top notch, as is the case with “The High Life”. I’m a sucker for piano and strings, which is what original drew me into InFAF’s EP, Voyage, in the first place. Although, the strings and piano don’t make as much of an impact this time around, as they did on the EP.

Other members of the band do an acceptable job as well. Decent guitar work is heard throughout, with a few catchy hooks, and an awesome breakdown in “Counselor”. Drumming is solid throughout the entire album, often holding songs together. Synth is a bit overdone, often times hurting a song more than helping it. Also, the songwriting is painfully similar on every song. If this album was on repeat you would never be able to tell beginning from end. Nothing is terrible on the album, but nothing is outstanding either.

Overall, Imperial was a poor effort. I may be harboring some resentment because I expected more from the band. I was a huge fan of their EP and was dissatisfied to not see them try a few new things. Maybe my expectations are too high, maybe I expected too much…or maybe I’m just outgrowing the genre as a fan. In Fear and Faith will surely continue to tour, record albums and sell shirts, but I don’t think I’ll be buying one anytime soon.

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