Elementary

The End | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Relapse
• ASIN: B000LSBWY4
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,983 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

For Fans Of: TOOL, The MARS VOLTA, The DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, ISIS, IN FLAMES, AS I LAY DYING

Product Description

The End build their stinking abilities and unique vision to astonishing new heights on its brand-new album Elementary. An incredible listen, Elementary sees The End fin its own unique balancing world-class musicianship with fiery songs that bare the soul and expose the essence of what it means to be real/human. The impassioned vocals of Aaron Wolf lead a stunning ten son charge of heavy music as expansive as it is expressive as moving as it is memorable, and immediate in its impact on all within earshot. Awe-inspiring songs like 'The Never Ever Aftermath', 'Throwing Stones', 'Animals', and 'In Distress' look deep into the heart of human experience and emotion, burning with deep into the heart of human experience and emotion, burning with a passion seldom heard in modern music. Simply stated, Elementary is a monumental record; one of the best you will ever hear. Meet your new favorite band; The End has arrived.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's different, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, April 6, 2007

By 

Matthew "mc" (houston, tx United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elementary (Audio CD)

These reviews are incredibly harsh. This is a fantastic album. It's an amazing blend of very difficult to master styles and all of them are done perfectly. The ambient sections are never too long or boring like so many sub-popular bands these days... the emo part is never annoyingly off-key or overly self-indulgent. the lyrics are heartfelt and interesting.

the problem these people seem to have with it is that it doesn't sound the same as their last albums (which, i agree, were great), but they can't make the same album every time, it would be pointless. maybe the next album they'll go back and make their first album again and everyone will be happy. also, this album could be accessible enough to bring a whole new audience to grind, ambient, and metalcore. is it better than their other albums? i don't know. all i know is that it's different, and it's good.

in the end, it's just a bunch of very talented, inspired guys making beautiful music.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 2 stars is extremely generous, February 26, 2007

By 

Paul N. Olsen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elementary (Audio CD)

'Elementary' may be a lot of things: more straightforward, more 'song-oriented,' more radio-friendly, etc. But it is not representative of The End, who were, until this album, one of the most original and unique bands in extreme music. The band's first EP, 'Transfer Trachea Reverberations From Point: False Omnicient,' is one of the most stunning debuts ever, and their first full-length, 'Within Dividia,' melded the band's musical complexity with just the right amount of texture and atmosphere.

'Elementary,' unfortunately, sounds like a completely different band, and that is not a good thing, because The End once sounded like themselves, and now they sound just like every other hardcore/emo act in existence. Indeed, if you had never heard the band before, and you listened to their first album, and then listened to 'Elementary,' you would have no idea it was the same band.

Now, I am all for a band maturing and growing, but this album is an extreme regression. What's wrong with staying true to your original sound? There was a time when you could not pinpoint direct influences for this band, except maybe Dillinger Escape Plan (and this comparison has always been a big, big stretch). Now, you can hear a little bit of Tool, a little bit of Meshuggah, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, until what's left is a band with no distinct identity. If I want to hear these other bands, I will listen to them.

I cannot overstate enough how generic the music on 'Elementary' is compared to their old stuff. All of these songs could easily be played on MTV or modern-rock radio. I'm not saying it's absolutely terrible (although some of it is); there are some memorably catchy moments on the album. Probably the best song on here is 'Animals,' which starts out as a heavier, more straightforward version of music on 'Within Dividia.' The middle section is a mid-tempo, melodic section that is repetitive but catchy. 'Awake' is the only song that even sounds anything like 'Within Dividia,' and it seems thrown in just to please old fans, and to prevent the listener from nodding off.

Why does this sort of thing happen to bands? It's like they took 'songwriting' lessons in order to gain more mass appeal. Nobody listens to The End to hear heartfelt ballads and emo vocals. People listen to The End because they are incredible, virtuoso musicians who write music that buzzes with energy and excitement, which, unfortunately, you will not find much of on 'Elementary.'

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If tech metal band The End are trying to confuse us all once again, They succeeded in an unfortunate manner, February 11, 2007

By 

Mogollon "MOGOLLON" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elementary (Audio CD)

First things first; If you are planning on buying something from this band, DO NOT GET THIS ALBUM FIRST!!! This is not The End you want to know first. I was really looking forward to this release because I thought it was going to be something worth buying for once in a long while. Considering their past resume of music writing quality and ability, I was hoping this would be a total departure from anything even close to the monstrous two former albums. This they did. They just went the wrong direction.

This album eludes me completely. Is is The End's answer to Opeth's Deliverance, is this the way they are trying to confuse us. Tech metal is supposed to be thought provoking and quite confusing. This album was both, but not in a musical sense that most people that listen to this type of music are used to. First off, there is way too much groove to make this anything close to Tech Metal. Second, too much acoustic playing, singing, and melodic content for is to be tech metal. This is what you get when you take an old album by The End, slow it down, and change every groove to some random time signature over 4 (?/4). This album IS confusing in the sense that it isn't Tech Metal at all, and a total musical REgression from anything written by them in the past. The album itself sounds great, in the recording and production sense of it. This is a decent album. It is NOT, however, The End. It is more of a statement that since metal is starting to re-emerge out of obscurity(?), and scene kid teens are buying more crap than quality, that The End wants to dip its own hand into that cookie jar. Take this album for what it is. Listen to it and create the most un-biased opinion of it that you can, and move on. Definitely not the masterpiece this band is capable of. if you are about to buy an album by this band for the first time, I suggest Transfer Trachea. I do suggest buying this album, but not before buying one of the other albums first.