Band: Since October
Title: This Is My Heart
Label: Tooth & Nail
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Emily
02. My Heart
03. Beautiful
04. Disaster
05. In This Moment
03. Guilty
07. World To Me
08. Live To Die
09. Follow Me Down
10. Waiting
11. Everything
Since October is a band we’ve covered on IVM long before they signed with Tooth & Nail. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly they won a new band contest we ran way back. Brandon can either confirm that or tell me I’m way off. I have said since I first listened to their EP that’d they’d be a great pick for the Nail. They would provide the label with another nu metal/hard rock group that would hopefully follow in the footsteps of success that Thousand Foot Krutch has achieved. The band’s EP, Gasping For Hope, were pretty impressive for an independent group, and for those who are familiar you’ll notice many of those early songs reappear on this album. Unfortunately, the band did not live up to my expectations with This Is My Heart.
Since October sounds like many of the other bands in the hard rock/nu metal realm, most notably bands like Disciple. At times they have a bit of a P.O.D. vibe which isn’t surprising when realizing that Marcos helped co-write a few tracks. “My Heart” would be a typical sounding song for this genre. Chunky guitars, thick guitars, with pounding drums mixed with a sing/scream approach. However, when listening to songs like “Beautiful” you’ll be able to notice a bit more use of melody than some others in the genre. This is an incredibly catchy track and a likely contender for the second single. It also features some of that guitar chugging but focuses more on the melodic approach. The chorus is big and catchy which is a must in this genre. “Disaster” was chosen as the first single and is similar to “Beautiful” in most aspects. “In This Moment” is the ballad of the album and a potential single for Christian radio that isn’t into the hard rock.
Overall Rating: An impressive, yet at times repetitive, debut for the foursome from Florida. If they focus hard on staying on the road they will be able to carve a place for themselves in the market. Hopefully a bit more variation will be seen on future releases as well. This band has a lot of crossover potential and I truly hope to see them do some secular tours. (6.5/10)
Standout Tracks: “Beautiful”, “Disaster”
Buy: Zambooie
