| CD REVIEW Verse |
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Band : Verse If anyone could direct me to a good source for info on the history of this Providence (Rhode Island, in the North of the East Coast, and not from Utah, North Carolina, or Kentucky, where you'll also find places called that way) band, please let me know. I've no idea how long the band's been active, and whether they released anything before their 2004 debut full-length Rebuild,issuedthroughthe Rivalry imprint. I know that Verse followed that up with sophomore album From Anger And Rage in 2006, on the same label, and so now the band gets a somewhat better distribution of their album with their Bridge Nine released third! From reviews I read of their previous records, I understand that Verse (current line-up: singer Sean Murphy, guitarists Eric Lupine & Zak Drummond, bassist Chris Berg, and drummer Shawn Costa) have always been somewhat of an aggressive band musically, and a rather socio-politically aware one at that. On their own website verserevolution.com, you'll find a shit-load (pardon the pun) of interesting (according to the band members) literature to read, and the lyrics are apparently irrevocably positive and hopeful, even if extremely angrily brought! If indeed the first album showed a somewhat raw recording with a couple of moments (especially at the end) where songs seems somewhat incomplete, the sophomore album was felt as a vast improvement, both in songwriting and sound. Both albums saw the band go through viciously fast tracks with sudden breakdowns in a more composed mid-speed, and the occasional calmer passage which only served to make the aggressive parts that much more furious! According to the label biography, few are the Hardcore bands who can deliver a third good album after having released two good first ones (huh...where the heck do they get thàt idea...haven't those antiquated ideas gone yet? I mean, that may have been true before the late '90s...but I'd say things work quite differently since the turn of the millenium, wouldn't you?). That same bio tells me that Verse answers the time old question of what Hardcore bands are so angry about, as the band deals with such urgent issues as the current destructive war in Iran, the US' foreign policy disaster, the economy that's failing daily...and channels these apparently distant feelings beyond the here and now into a personal relationship. Or, as frontman Sean Murphy states it himself: "I have watched people go through some real hard times. I feel like I'm trying to not only speak for myself, but anyone that might feel the way I feel"! Musically, the album is said to be a challenging one...and the fact is, that the slower, mid-tempo songs aren't concentrated to where they drag, and the fast Hardcore ragers are spaced so they don't blend together. Some of the songs start the same way with a blasting bulk of the track following a calmer opening, but again those moments are spaced over the album, so that working method doesn't become immediately obvious (except for the more experienced listener...but I dó stress on admitting I dó like those calmer spaces quite a lot). Besides, the band also uses a fade-out In its calmer and most melodic moments, Verse creates a tension which is remeniscent of Deftones or Failure. Also, in the middle of the album, Verse brings the 3-part and 6:24 long "Story Of A Free Man" (which is rather "heavy" throughout...just a short calmer passage towards the end of the first chapter, see?). Vocally, Murphy is a fury throughout the album, screaming his lung out without becoming "Screamo"... Hey, why do I even bother to go into all to deep details about just how ferocious Verse's new album sounds? You can listen to àll 12 songs (an almost 29 minutes listening session) at punknews.org/bands/verse. For older songs, turn to myspace.com/verse (where you'll find 3 songs off the sophomore album and one off the debut alongside this album's opening track "The New Fury") or to freerecordshop.nl/sitemap-nl/rebuild-verse (where you'll find samples of all Rebuild songs). Currently (June 20 to July 20), the band is on a US tour with Have Heart (for details see the band's MySpace page), and in August they plan to come over to Europe (again with Have Heart) for an extensive tour. No details as of yet, but I'm sure they'll follow shortly! AS for my personal appreciation of the album, I have to admit I liked the band's niceties, the way they break the faster songs with mid-tempo parts or start up a song languidly before lashing out in fury. The socio-political angle is only a plus point to me...and proof that not every young man in the US is dumb enough to take his government's propagandas for truth! 89/100 Tony. |