Stick to Your Guns -- 'Comes From the Heart' [review]

Stick to Your Guns - Comes From the Heart
Century Media (5/13/08)
Hardcore / Metal

There's a time and place for everything. But sometimes, at some point, the "get in, kick ass, get out" approach becomes a cliché. And that was the obvious aim Stick to Your Guns was taking with Comes From the Heart (the album's ten tracks clock in at under a half-hour). So, let's consider that strike one.

Then there's the hardcore scene in general. Unless you're taking the brutal, old-school approach (take a listen to last year's Warriors album for a good example of this), or shifting toward the metal end of the spectrum (Hatebreed isn't reinventing the wheel every outing, but you can't dismiss any album that the band has released), you're pretty much stuck. Hell, Remembering Never was singing about beating a dead horse back in 2004. So for a band to try carrying that "core" movement, made famous by the likes of Atreyu or maybe From Autumn to Ashes (and I'm talking back around '01 or '02 here), it's unclear whether we're supposed to respect Stick to Your Guns for carrying the banner, or shake our heads for the group ... well, beating a dead horse. So there's strike two.

If it wasn't already clear, Stick to Your Guns has a fairly formulaic approach to its music. There are hardcore breakdowns, attacking riffs and this positive (albeit brutal) element to the music. The vocals oscillate between the typical hardcore howl and clean, sometimes melodic, singing.

But don't get me wrong; it's not all boring. "Tonight's Entertainment" is a nice little brutal slab of hardcore, while the drumming on "Driving Force" is pretty impressive, and there's some pretty good rhythm guitar work on there, too. And there are some nice solos sprinkled about the album, especially on "We Must Look Like Ants From Up There". And to throw listeners for a loop, there's "Interlude", which basically consists of sampling and acoustic work in a very laid-back, mellow vein. It's entirely out of place on the album, and doesn't really work, as a result; but it's a nice try nonetheless.

Comes From the Heart is a little too short, and not the most original album out there, but Stick to Your Guns doesn't do a terrible job producing this type of music. Not fantastic, and not horrendous, this album is just sort of there, and listeners will either love it or hate it.

From Autumn to Ashes -- 'The Fiction We Live' [review]

From Autumn to Ashes

"The Fiction We Live"

Vagrant Records



"Climbing on the way up,

Sizing up the competition,

waiting for the right time,

To strike a chord and change your life."

-- From "Lilacs & Lolita"


When From Autumn to Ashes made the jump from Ferret Records, home/once-home to bands like A Static Lullaby and Killswitch Engage, fans wondered exactly how much the band's sound would be altered. Well, if ever a band benefited from the jump from an indie to major (or in this case, somewhat major) label, it's From Autumn to Ashes.

The concern on the part of the fans was not unfounded ... after all, From Autumn to Ashes, at its core, was a hardcore band experimenting with tinges of metal, acoustic guitar and heartfelt melody. Its first full-length release, "Too Bad You're Beautiful," was raw, aggressive, and beautiful all at the same time. Would the band become more mainstream? Would a major label tone down the hardcore aspects and play up the emo elements?

The answer to these questions is a resounding no.

After signing to Ferret Records, From Autumn to Ashes went and made a phenomenal From Autumn to Ashes disc. The band sounds more crisp and polished than ever, due in part to constant touring over the past few years, and also the great production work of Garth Richardson who has previously worked with the likes of Rage Against The Machine, L7, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ozzy Osbourne and Kittie (to name a few).

The band features two vocalists, lead singer Benjamin Perri and drummer Francis Mark, who trade off throughout the songs. Bassist Mike Pilato keeps a nice backbeat through the disc and has some nice breakout moments in some tracks (which I'll get to later). Guitarists Scott Gross and Brian Deneeve round out the line-up trading guitar riffs, neat little guitar licks and dive bombs from track to track. The beauty of the band is that no one aspect or member outshines the other, the five form a well-oiled machine and complement each other nicely.

The disc kicks off with "The After Dinner Paycheck," which had actually been released a month earlier on the Freddy Vs. Jason soundtrack. The track is a great introduction to the band's sound with Perri growling out vocals before Mark starts answering back about a minute in, with a more strained delivery, sounding slightly forced and more rock-centric. The bass and guitar tumble over each other like a steamroller before opening up with driving guitar riffs at a more frantic pace.

"No Trivia" is one of the best songs on the disc, both lyrically and musically. Pilato is great on the bass here while Mark handles all the vocals ... by the end of the song as he's yelling, "You know I care," I defy the listener to not get chills up the back of your neck.

By now the band's settled into a groove and the songs flow heavy and hard: "Milligram Smile" (which the band filmed a video for and may currently be seen on MTV2) combines quick verses with heavy drumming and guitar riffs alternating with acoustic bridges; "The Second Wrong Makes it Right" does the opposite with slower verses and more metal-like bridges and ends with a great piano piece.

"Autumns Monologue" is one of the strongest songs on the disc and one that fans will like more than casual listeners. Melanie Wills (of One True Thing) does the vocals on the track accompanied by only an acoustic guitar, piano and quiet drumming. The song is a continuation of "Short Stories With Tragic Endings," the last song off the band's previous effort "Too Bad..." Wills has a great voice and I highly recommend checking out her band (www.onetruething.net).

"Alive Out of Habit" and "All I Taste Today is What's Her Name" are strong tracks. "The Fiction We Live" is an answer song to "Autumns Monologue," the same song with Mark singing different vocals. I personally like the song a lot but sometimes skip over it because I feel like it would work better at the end of the disc, maybe as a hidden track. Instead the disc ends with "I'm The Best At Ruining My Life" which seems to end abruptly and leave you wanting more.