Band: Senseless Beauty
Title: Surviving.
Label: n/a
Release Date: June 19, 2010
Review By: Steve
Track Listing:
1. The Xs Jake Wears
2. Marketability
3. Reverse The Curse
4. Fear And Loathing In Iowa City
5. Internal Monologue
6. The Walking Dead
7. Yorick Brown: Escape Artist
8. Eyes Closed, Walking Into Traffic
9. Introspective
10. Theology
Senseless Beauty is a five-piece melodic metalcore band out of Mason City, Iowa. This is a band that definitely has some major potential. Like most albums I review, Surviving has definitely grown on me. The chugging guitars and brutal breakdowns are sure to please many fans. I was definitely impressed with the musicianship and production of Surviving. I have their previous album from 2008, Thoughts of Wolves. You cannot even compare the two albums on any level. The level of maturity from musicianship to vocals is extremely evident. This is a credit to the band members who have not taken a day off since the band’s inception. These guys often play for free and it is this kind of passion that you can feel drip from this album.
What I really like about this album is the intense brutal screams of Shven Biermann. He has some great metalcore pipes. At times they seem a little forced but for the majority of the album they are spot on. What else is extremely enjoyable on Surviving is the guitars. I love the chugging, intense riffs that are laced throughout the album. This album hits hard from start to finish.
Really, the only part of the album I did not care for was the clean vocals. Me saying this is coming from my own personal issues with melodic metalcore. There are really only a handful of melodic metalcore bands that I can stomach; however, I really believe that a lot of people will really like the clean vocal on this album. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the clean vocals and they are all on key. I really enjoyed Shven’s brutal vocals and would have preferred to only have had them on the album.
My favorite track on Surviving would have to be “Marketability.” I like it because it is heavy as all the tracks are but I really like the message of the track, which is not selling out to this world. Shven has some great lines, “Marketability, quit selling yourself short. Stay true to yourself quit following trends. / Never give up and never give in. / Don’t let them tell you who you want to be. / American Apparel will never sponsor me, but I laugh cuz that’s not the one I want to be. / You write your name with a dollar sign, but I’m reluctant to even add up mine.” I was also very impressed with Senseless Beauty’s unashamed love for Christ that shows through in all the lyrics.
I was torn with the scoring of this album. I gave the band a six, but I hate the “Generic” label associated with it. It is hard to find any truly unique metalcore now days. I thank Senseless Beauty for giving the chance to review this album and believe they have great things in front of them. I truly believe that a lot of people will disagree with me and score this album higher.
Overall: This album is pretty darn good. It is laced with intense riffs and brutal breakdowns. Senseless Beauty has definitely taken their game to the next level compared to their previous efforts. If you like clean and gang vocals mixed in with your metalcore then you definitely need to give Senseless Beauty a shot and go check them out. While melodic metalcore may not be my cup of tea, I understand that a lot of people do. I believe this is a band with a bright future and one worthy of checking out and supporting.
