MEMORY OF A MELODY: "Things That Make You Scream"

Rating: RRR
Label: MOAM 2013
Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Thankfully, melody isn't only a memory for this interestingly named band. Despite their name and occasional hardcore leanings, their songs do have decent amounts of melody and hooks. The band has definite crossover appeal, as their heavier material could appeal to the fans of bands like Bullet For My Valentine, while their more melodic material has similarities to Black Veil Brides, HIM, Shinedown and even Nickelback. A cynic could say that they're modelling themselves on everything that's popular on rock radio... but I kind of enjoy most of their tunes.

The album starts with "Mask", one of the more "sinister" tracks. Machine-gun riffs and cookie monster screams are balanced by Mario Galdos' melancholic vocals. It's effective as an opener, but I prefer the highly melodic "Till Death Do Us Apart" and "Things That Make You Scream" (check the video). The next couple of tracks fail to impress: "Pieces" goes a bit too far to the screamo direction and "Intersections" just isn't particulary interesting with it's grunge-ish chorus. The next real highlight is "Skin Deep", a slightly Shinedown-like ballad that might earn some serious airplay for the band. "Reach" is another balladic track that could be a potential radio hit too.

The last few tracks are a mixed bag. I kind of knew that "Ultra Violence" wouldn't be one of my favourites just judging by the title, and no surprise, the good ol' cookie monster raises its' ugly head again. "The Core" is better, even though the band try hard to ruin it by screaming the last 20 seconds. The closing number "Truth In Lies" is an instrumental with a "Master Of Puppets" vibe, not bad but somehow it feels like an unfinished song waiting for vocal melodies and lyrics. It could have been just as well left off the album...

What more? Well, the production of "TTMYS" is top-notch, courtesy of Bryan Scott (The Union Underground, Evil United), easily comparable to any major label release in the genre. That's pretty impressive since the band has no label backing. That might just change one of these days.
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