Mayday Parade – “Black Lines” [Album Review]

Emo. A word that brings shudders of nausea amongst those of you who like their rock to come with balls. I have to admit, I’m one of those people who have avoided the “emo scene” like the plague, given that I thought most of it was a bit wet. However, just to shut me up, emo faves Mayday Parade go and prove me wrong by getting all raucous on their sixth album Black Lines.

Opening with the grittier “One Of Them Will Destroy The Other,” it seems like maybe I was wrong about this whole “emo” thing. Certainly a lot rockier than I expected, Black Lines, has been described by the band’s frontman Derek Sanders as seeing the group display a more mature direction. If that’s the case going forward, Mayday Parade can count me in! Emo fans don’t worry though, the passion, the heart and the emotion are still there and, if the heartstring tugging “Letting Go” or the haunting “Hollow” are to be used as reference points, there is definitely plenty of emotion left in Sanders’ tank.

Obviously with the band having a huge emo following, hitting those fans too hard with this new, mature direction would be unfair; however, it’s clear Mayday Parade are very comfortable with their edgier sound, given tracks like opener “One Of Them Will Destroy The Other.” However, where Black Lines really shines, for example on album closer “One Of Us,” is when they blend together gentler moments with more rockier sections to create something quite powerful.

Track Listing:

01. One Of Them Will Destroy The Other
02. Just Out Of Reach
03. Hollow
04. Letting Go
05. Let’s Be Honest
06. Keep In Mind, Transmogrification Is A New Technology
07. Narrow
08. Underneath The Tide
09. All On Me
10. Until You’re Big Enough
11. Look Up And See Infinity, Look Down And See Nothing
12. One Of Us

Run Time: 44:06
Release Date: October 9, 2015

Check out the song “One Of Them Will Destroy The Other” here.