Blessthefall – “To Those Left Behind” [Album Review]

Do you like riffs? I like riffs. I also like guitar chugs, screams, sour cream, but I’m also a sucker for clean vocal hooks. Are these things that make you salivate and sweat excessively too, almost as though you’re nervous that you’re gonna make someone you really like think that you’re a complete dweeb? <---- I've never used that word before, but growing up, I heard it a lot on "Full House" and wanted to be able to organically work it into conversation, but it never happened... until now, minus this not being a conversation, per se. Blessthefall, stylized with a lower case ‘b’ for some reason, has been around for a surprisingly long time, kind of making me feel like they’re really underrated, especially in comparison to a lot of the bands that have come and gone during the span of which blessthefall has been around. I’m super-pumped to see their buzz increase over the past couple years. It’s def. well deserved, esp. considering that their live shows are insane. But, I digress. One of my favorite aspects of this album is the tactful usage of pedal tone riffs, a staple of metalcore guitar writing. The title track, “To Those Left Behind,” is a great example of a classic pedal tone riff, using the speeds made popular by bands like As I Lay Dying, the syncopation of August Burns Red, while also including the vocally-driven, signature blessthefall chorus that is a) beautiful and b) cinematically-charged. Huge props to these guys for writing an album with so many different flavors, like a musical box of edible Crayons – the 96 pack, the cool kid pack. There are super-aggro songs. There are songs with intense verses that turn into powerful, open choruses. There are tracks like “Looking Down From The Edge” where guitar riffs that run along synths and are performed as if the guitar picking is a deep, synth gate and turn into pop lines that morph gradually back to rock and then into a scream verse/bridge. That’s money, my friend. Needless to say, the blessthefall writing game is strong. Track Listing: 01. Decayer
02. Walk On Water
03. Dead Air
04. Up In Flames
05. Against the Waves
06. Looking Down From The Edge
07. Keep What We Love & Burn The Rest
08. Condition // Comatose
09. Oathbreaker
10. To Those Left Behind
11. Departures

Run Time: 42:43
Release Date: September 18, 2015

Check out the song “Walk On Water” here.