Emmure - Goodbye To The Gallows
70%
Emmure is a band that was destined to come together. The founding members met through the Internet, then commuted hours at a time from Queens, New York to Connecticut and back, to rehearse, write their music and settle on a lineup, doing all this with one goal in mind: “We’re looking to be the heaviest, most emotionally moving band out there.” Their efforts have paid off in a deal with Victory Records and a debut album, set to be released in March of 2007, determined to destroy any and all limitations to what’s known as hardcore rock.
“Quite a promising intro,” I thought when reading this. And I’m always a little frightened by that since expectations, after reading this kind of biographies, often rise to a level at which they can only be shattered after listening to the band in question. Fortunately that turned out to be not that much of a problem.
But then there’s the description ‘hardcore rock’. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of that before and while listening to Goodbye To The Gallows I’m wondering whether calling this music hardcore rock is just a lame trick to disguise the fact that these guys are just playing hardcore/metalcore or that they really believe in playing an entirely different genre. Still, I was willing to give this album enough time to convince me of its quality.
After a useless intro, the music kicks in with an overwhelming power. There’s nasty screaming involved and even a band like The Berzerker crossed my mind at some moments. Throughout the album, vocalist Frankie gives you deep roars combined with the somewhat chaotic Every Time I Die-alike vocals. At first you really get the feeling that those parts do not fit in that well but it’s really a style you have to get used to. And to make it all complete, there are guest vocals from Karl Schubach (Misery Signals), Tyler Guida (My Bitter End) and Gunny (All The Heathers Are Dying). Fact is, Emmure kicks some serious nuts here with their enormous wall of heaviness during most of the songs.
But just when I started to wonder how incredibly heavy this band must sound live, there was track 6, ‘Travis Bickle’, which is really misplaced in my opinion. There’s this heartbeat and some rustling for about two minutes before the heaviness continues. My guess is that someone’s digging a hole in the ground to dump a body (judging from the cover artwork that is). I think it’s a real pity that such a track actually made it onto the album since it’s already quite a short album; not even half an hour!
Fortunately the rest of the album doesn’t contain any more of those misplaced interruptions and continues the way probably everybody wants it to continue; heavy as fuck! And I think the production has played quite a roll in that sound since I’m having the feeling I’m actually in my speakers when listening. I really get the impression of being in a room from which I can’t escape until the music ends. I guess it must have been those ‘walls of heaviness’ that surrounded me.
Emmure’s Goodbye To The Gallows is recommended to people that like Between The Buried And Me, Unearth and Every Time I Die. And of course, to every other person out there that’s in for some brutal ass kicking heaviness. Don’t expect a band that’s adding something extremely new to the scene, ‘cause Emmure isn’t. If you’re looking for a different version of nowadays metalcore, you should try this album!
