A Skylit Drive – “Wires & The Concept of Breathing”

Emocore has seen some interesting bands emerge in the past while: Chiodos, Embrace, Escape The Fate, as well as the band in question, A Skylit Drive. The genre is obviously just a blend of modern emo and post-hardcore and you can imagine how high up in the rankings this band stands, considering they have toured with bands such as Blessthefall, Alesana, Greeley Estates, and From First To Last.

Now I know many people probably don’t want to read about personal experiences in CD reviews, BUT you readers may want to know that A Skylit Drive is astonishing live, take it from me. The band recently toured with Alesana, Dead And Divine, Chiodos, Silverstein, and Escape The Fate and it was a dope tour. It’s quite clear why A Skylit Drive was chosen for this tour.

As with most emocore, the vocals fluctuate between higher, clean vocals, over to low and high screams. The instrumentation also varies, from a “pop”-ish feel, right over to post-hardcore (including breakdowns). The most interesting track on the disc is “Eris and Dysnomia”. This is largely due to the fact that the title refers to Greek mythology, but I won’t bore you with that. The track kicks into the heavy side immediately. After a little while, the music switches over to the softer side that is often portrayed in emo music. It’s actually amusing to hear the main vocals, which are the higher (somewhat girlish) vocals, over to the backing vocals, which are the darker screams and growls.

“Balance”, however, is a completely different style compared to the majority of the album. The post-hardcore is prevalent, but not nearly as much as the majority of the album. The instrumentation reminds me very much of something Eyes Set To Kill would write.

To be entirely honest, the album was spectacular, and the music is great, but I can only handle so much of their music. The high vocals can be a little bit much on the eardrums, so be warned. I will say this: If you like Alesana, pick up this album.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. In The Beginning There Was Void
02. Knights Of The Round
03. Wires (And The Concept Of Breathing)
04. City On The Edge Of Forever
05. Eris and Dysnomia
06. I’m Not A Thief, I’m A Treasure Hunter
07. My Disease
08. This Isn’t The End
09. Sleepwalker
10. Pursuit Lets Wisdom Ride The Wind
11. Ex-Machina
12. Balance
13. All It Takes For Your Dreams To Come True

Run Time: 34:16
Release Date: 05.20.2008