Raunchy - Dead Pop Romance Review
by Mike Rapin
.
Metalcore has its good side and its bad side and we all know by now what is good and what is bad. Lucky for us, Raunchy is on the good side of metalcore with their release of Dead Pop Romance. To start, Raunchy delivers "This Legend Forever," a more "upbeat" song that starts the CD right by adding in some sweet keyboard along side of the rest of the bands harmonious sound. "Abandon Your Hope," follows sounding a bit more intense, but goes into a great chorus of singing and makes the listener want to sing along. The song adds more of a heavier feel towards the end before it goes back to an altered chorus that I can't help but like
a lot. The slower paced "Phantoms" begins with a good sound, but is a little lacking on the lyrical side of things. The music is in the right place, but some of the lyrics aren't. The song is decent, but probably something I wouldn't recommend as one of the better songs by Raunchy. Oh how I love the octaves of guitars and breakdowns. Raunchy slaps a vivacious beginning to "The Curse Of Bravery" in your face (including guitar octaves). They add in the always-loved breakdown here and there, along side of some great keyboard parts, some necessary double-bass pedal, and a bit of cursing! Oh no! Either way, it's a good song. T-t-t-two-stepping! Oh my! "Remembrance" is all about the two stepping, but besides that: keyboards! Again! And what? Breakdowns? Surely you jest! Oh my, it is amazing! This song is actually quite good with its slower beat and "happier" sounding riffs. Besides that, who doesn't like to hear a bunch of German guys sing harmoniously? I know I don't. "Live The Myth." A great song that really seems to "live the myth." Starting off with a heavier tone, some awesome drums, then moves to a slow tone for a short second, but is brought back to a faster speed. The one thing that stuck out in this song for me was the awesome effects on the keyboards in the background right before the sing-song chorus (what is my fascination with keyboards all of a sudden?). To me, the keys in this song sound like something out of a Need For Speed game, but better with the cool riff in the lead near half point song just before the song speeds up for the verse. The effects at the beginning of "City of Hurt" always catch my ear when I have my songs playing on random; the reason being that the song starts off so quiet, but turns into a really interesting "techno" sound. The guitars only add to this almost techno feel. All I know is that if a drummer can keep a steady beat that sounds like a machine, he has to have some real talent. Ah, "Persistence." This song is quite catchy and when I say "catchy" I mean, it gets stuck in your head
in a good way. It has to be the insanely astonishing drum/guitar combo that is the super fast palm muted sound of a breakdown as the chorus that really does it. It's just that good. Probably my favorite song on the album, "The Velvet Remains" makes me smile when I hear it. This song is packed with energy that would get any crowd moving despite the size or content. It's all in the chorus, I swear. Great riffs, great tones, great drums, great keyboard, great vocals; this song is phenomenal. Whoever thought of adding keyboards to a hardcore band was a genius to do so, because Raunchy must have known that for the song "Farewell to Devotion" keyboards for the intro would only make life that much better, seeing that it adds to the sheer greatness of the CDs final song. This song is what I want to hear when I hear metalcore. Oh, and it's a great ending to a damn good CD. If I can say one thing about this band, it's that their mix of keyboard and guitar is quite amazing. It just gives you a feeling of joy and the energy to simply get up and hardcore dance. Did I mention the vocals? They are probably some of the better hardcore vocals, especially coming from a non-English speaking country and singing in English. Damn good. Track Listing 1. This Legend Forever 2. Abandon Your Hope 3. Phantoms 4. The Curse of Bravery 5. Remembrance 6. Live The Myth 7. City of Hurt 8. Persistence 9. The Velvet Remains 10. Farewell to Devotion
CD Info and Links
Raunchy - Dead Pop Romance Label:Lifeforce Rating:8
Preview and Purchase This CD Online
Visit the official homepage
More articles for this artist
What do you think? Discuss this review on the Thrash Board
tell a friend about this review .
...end |