Misery Signals

From time to time bands release a CD that you kind of expected to hear, but in this case that happens not to be true. Misery Signals are back with the best metalcore album of the year and this beautiful display (and artistic effort) goes by the name of Mirrors. This is an album that will definitely go down in this genre’s hall of fame. It comes packed with eleven songs of pure insanity and amazing musical structure. It’s raw and very powerful, but at the same time very melodic. With everything this band has done in the past, it was additionally amazing to see such a more vast mix of elements. I am almost certain that this will sky rocket the band’s popularity even more then it already is.

Mirrors rushes right into it with the powerful and booming, in-your-face song called “Face Yourself.” You might notice that the vocals sound a bit different here and that’s because vocalist Jesse Zaraska and the band parted ways. Now however, the band has onboard, with a new approach and singing style, Karl Schubach. This guy sure gives the band a new feel; his voice is so pure and the melody of it stands out even during his purely insane screams. This being mixed with such a tight band only helps to further strengthen this release.

The song is so brutal and with double bass going at mach speed and breakdowns that are played tighter then almost anything I’ve ever heard, it’s tough to top. The melodic riff that sounds like a chorus is also one of the catchiest parts of this song. The guitars on the album at times offer a lot of crazy off-time riffs, but some very well-balanced changeovers with each other as well. The bass really fills up the track with a booming tone of pure thick clarity and the vocals are so aggressive that even Mr. T would pity himself.

The work on this album is very good sound-wise, as it was produced by none other than Ben Schigel. The clarity of this album is more then amazing for what it is; it’s godly for such a heavy band. The guitar work is my favorite thing for sure though; it stays in my head for a while. The drums all sound perfectly in pitch and have a sound such as a marching army coming to delete your life from existence. They are dead-on time with the music itself and the fills that Branden Morgan does are so bad-ass that I’m sure any drummer could learn something from him.

My favorite song on this CD is all of them… but a couple that I really dig are “Mirrors” and “Sword Of Eyes.” They both have some amazing vocals patterns along with amazing guitar licks; these guys are honestly some of the best metalcore guitar players. Ryan Morgan and Stuart Ross show they have an awesome musical relationship… pure creativity! They harmonize very well with each other and it makes me want to rip a guitar 24/7. I totally give this CD 10 out of 10!  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. Face Yourself
02. The Failsafe
03. Post Collapse
04. Migrate
05. One Day I’ll Stay Home
06. Something Was Always Missing, But it Was Never You
07. Reverence Lost
08. Sword of Eyes
09. An Offering to the Insatiable Sons of God (Butcher)
10. Anchor
11. Mirrors

Run Time: 49:33