Ok, I’ll be honest, here. I never really heard of this band until not too long ago. Someone I wasn’t very friendly with decided to bring up the band name, and I checked them out due to curiosity. After my lightning fast fingers clicked away on Google, I found their Myspace(a site I’m not very fond of . . . but has included at the bottom of this post) link where their darling little Emo-Angst Fans praise them like Roman Catholics does the Pope, and took them for a twirl. What I heard was really awkward. It was Screamo/Post-Hardcore(P-HxC, for you emo brats’ delight) screaming, with some “Ok, at best” rhymes and some “Is he singing or just moaning with words?” serenading. Yet, something about these three young men caught my attention, and, oddly, held it. So, of course, I had to chalk up a review for them. The album kicks in with a cut that sounds like Bone Thugs mixed breeds with Esham, A Heartbroken Depressed Teen and The Bled, “Dead B4 I Died.” The beat to the song borders between what I used to call “Evil Midwest Rap” and Down South Have Synth-&-Bass music. The group’s Emcee/Screamer/Mastermind Se7en is clearly the star of the trio. He rides the beat with ease, even though his lyrics aren’t ground-breaking or “Hip-Hop” in anyway. The trio has the keyboard running with a loop that would sound sick if done with a guitar(here’s hoping they do that live) for the song. It’s not hard to get into, at all. On “Schizophrenia!!!,” Se7en comes on sounding like he really is diagnosed with some type of mental instability the way he screams unapologetically into the microphone. Stealing a rhyme from the Freddy Krueger movies, and then flipping them to sound more . . . well, angry-teen style, the song isn’t hard to figure out . . . or nod to(I know, shameful, isn’t it?). “Jealousy!!!” with the beat sounding like the songs before it, has Se7en starting off in the digital background rhyming his pissed off teen problems from his small chest. Then, they change it to lead him come to the forefront without the digital restraints. The second verse of the song houses him screaming with such constant force that you’re forced to check and see if your eyes aren’t squint with him. “Still Waiting 4 U” sounds like a Screamo remix of an old Eminem song. With Eminem-styled string melody, and the eerie digitalized atmospheric sounds. Actually, you feel more like you’re in some revamped Sci-Fi Romance Terror movie when hearing this. The surprise hit kicks in for the song “Taking Lyfe From Me”‘s acoustic version. The intro sounds like someone learning to play chords on a toy guitar. Once the intro is over, you’re treated to some moderate guitar plucking, and, again, whiny boy singing. Still, it’s the concept that seems so strange for this attention seeking threesome. No, this isn’t music that will shake things up. Nor is this music that is of a brand new design/concept. It’s like having a younger lizard-hissing profanity-prone “Look at me! Look at me!” Linkin Park. Yeah, Se7en is Japanese . . . not good for trying to discredit my comparison, is it? And, sadly, as much as I bash them, I like these little idiots. I guess you can call them my guilty pleasure. Go figure. I wouldn’t even look at you funny if you walked towards the exit of the room when their music is played. But, I do know that with a cult-like young fanbase, it’s only a matter of time until their attacking MTV and Radio airwaves until I’m planning their assassination. Not much of a review, you say? Well, these guys aren’t much of an actual BAND. So, we’re even.
OpinionHated 