Review by contributor Kyle Smith
As with many Rise Records artists – and bands like them – most of my knowledge of Woe, is Me was limited to the much loved “Punk goes Pop” series of albums. For those of you who are unfamiliar with PGP, I would suggest checking them out for a fun listen. They’re exactly what the title implies – a bunch of punk bands – mostly post hardcore punk/melodic metalcore bands in this case – doing covers of Top 40 pop songs. My introduction to Woe, is Me was their cover of Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” (PGP vol. 3). While I greatly enjoyed their work on this, my first impression of WIM was a bit skewed since it was merely a cover and not an original. Because of this first impression, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from WIM’s original material.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this record. Within the post-hardcore punk genre, it is easy to fall into a rut of generic breakdowns and repetitious melodies that switch back and forth between screamed and sung lyrics in an overly predictable pattern. While some of the material on Genesis could be classified in this generic manner, WIM does their best to break away from the generic and put their own unique touch on the music that produces a solid album, that is musically nuanced while remaining true to the heavy punk vein of the melodic metalcore genre.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlPr0nzCZ58]
Throughout the album, there is a general movement from darker, heavy music to brighter, and more light-hearted music: beginning with a short instrumental intro piece – “D-Day” – which leads into the the track “F.Y.I” – and ending on a mostly gang-vocaled power ballad – “Family First” – and a poppy acoustic version of “Nothing Left to Lose.” On the intro, “D-Day,” WIM introduces an industrial feel, even pulling in some machinery sound effects to assist the tone. “F.Y.I.” takes the industrial instrumentation from the intro and mirrors it with percussive vocals. This type of nuance is unique, but the more percussive vocals mesh well with the industrial tone, and it makes appearances throughout the entirety of the album, providing a sense of cohesion. This dark and heavy beginning eventually makes a slow progression towards a lighter and happier feel. WIM achieves this by slowly altering instrumentation to include more acoustic instruments and brighter effects.
This movement in the album displays what is probably WIM’s greatest strength on this record: their ability to contrast the differing styles of vocals and instrumentation and yet mesh them well to create a cohesive album. The use of such contrasting musical styles side by side creates a difficulty in the genre, and WIM pulls this off well. Matching both melodic and screamed vocals with instrumentation that meshes stylistically – the melodic vocals is usually paired with light electronica and synth strings, while the harsher, screamed vocals are paired with heavy, open breakdowns and chunky guitar distortion. They stick to this pattern for the majority of the album, but when they do break from it and reverse the arrangement – breakdowns with melodic vocals and driving, lighter riffs with screaming (see the melodic vocals on “I’ve Told You Once”) – it provides a tasty break from the pattern that displays how WIM can artfully nuance their music while remaining within the metalcore genre.
While this genre may get a bad rap for being filled with generic forms, WIM stands out on this album because of such little musical nuances that set them apart from the rest of the crowd. For me, the most significant of these are the overall industrial feel found on the album, the chimes and string part in the middle of “The Walking Dead,” the sexy guitar tone and feel on the intro to “I Came I Saw I Conquered,” and the a cappella, gang vocals outro to “Family First.” It is the little musicalities like these that made Woe, Is Me’s latest contribution an enjoyable listen and a break from the generic.
Score: 3/5
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