Artist: A Skylit Drive
Album: Identity on Fire
Label: Fearless
Release Date: Feb. 15
Grade: D+
Boring, repetitive, and, above all, generic, A Skylit Drive have failed to find themselves on their new album, Identity on Fire.
The fact that Identity on Fire is the band's third album in four years might lead some to conclude that A Skylit Drive is fairly prolific. However, a certain degree of creative output has to be expected when that output consists solely of three-and-a-half minute songs that are all virtually identical.
Take "Conscience Is a Killer," the fourth track of Identity on Fire. On an album where all the songs sound the same, it's as representative a track as any other.
The first segment of the track is dominated by Michael Jagmin's cringingly whiny vocals, with interjections from guitarist Brian White's hardcore screams coming in at various points. Both vocal parts are disproportionately loud when compared to the band's instrumental sections, perhaps to cover up the fact that none of the instrumentation is particularly interesting.
This rather uninspired formula is repeated on all of the album's dozen tracks, to varying degrees.
Some tracks, like "Ex Marks the Spot," are heavier and feature more of White than Jagmin. Others, like "The Cali Buds" and "Tempt Me Temptation," play around with texturing and phrasing for a whopping 20 or 30 seconds before degenerating into the same generic schlock that makes up the rest of the album.
The one interesting track of the album, the titular "Identity on Fire," reeks badly of the band trying way too hard. Featuring an arrangement more haphazard than complex, it takes a tone that tries so badly to be "hardcore" it's almost laughable. "Identity on Fire" is just barely better than the 10 awful tracks that precede it. Still, trying too hard is preferable to not trying at all.
Unless you're a massive fan of A Skylit Drive or have an affinity for bad music, this is an album that should be avoided at all costs.
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