Fine Fine Titans – “Renaissance” [Album Review]

In recent years female fronted post-hardcore/metalcore whatever-the-hell-they-are bands that have emerged as ones to watch have generally failed to really capitalize on the hype that has surrounded them. You see their faces plastered on the front of magazines, maybe the odd tour for a few months or, if you’re lucky, a couple of albums, then they fade away rarely to be heard of again. Michigan based shredders Fine Fine Titans are the new kids on the block for next year so how does their debut album Renaissance fair up?

Well, it becomes clear as the album works its magic, that Fine Fine Titans are aiming higher than just churning out the standard post-hardcore/metalcore wares that we’ve all heard a million times before. Wasting no time smashing you in the face, opener ‘We Plant A Bleeding Heart’ piles on the crunching riffs with vocalist Jennifer Bartlett making use of both caustic screams and melodic cleans over the top. Elsewhere on the album, Still Remains vocalist TJ Miller battles with Bartlett on ‘I Just Saw A Ghost’ and loses such is her imposing, dominating delivery. Away from the attention grabbing performance of Bartlett, Renaissance sees Fine Fine Titans weaving an almost My Chemical Romance goth-pop thread through their cocktails of punky-tech-metal to create dark, haunting yet brutal tracks like ‘Appetite’.

Of course there are a few run of the mill moments on this album – the more melodic ‘Carved Out’ takes some of the sting out of the album as does the tepid ‘Truth Will Never Share A Bed With You’. However, the band regain your attention with the haunting spoken word passage ‘Guillotine’ before signing off in ferocious style with the glorious ‘In All Your Glory’ – a haunting, soaring mix of techy guitars, clean/scream vocals and those delicious melodies that grabbed you by the balls the first minute you put this album on.

Track Listing:

01. We Planted A Bleeding Heart
02. I Just Saw A Ghost
03. Molasses Tongue
04. Appetite
05. Mistress
06. Carved Out
07. A Fire Retraced (Fahrenheit Diaries II)
08. Truth Will Never Share A Bed With You
09. Guillotine
10. In All Your Glory

Run Time: 37:17
Release Date: 16th November 2015

Check out the track ‘I Saw A Ghost’ here.