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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Special vs. General Emarosa, September 25, 2008
Relatively speaking, vocalist Jonny Craig is fighting a custody battle. Formerly the lead singer of Dance Gavin Dance, he and his stunning voice left that band to form Emarosa. Now, his sandpaper-throated, yet melodic, yell-singing carries Emarosa and listeners into oceans of adrenaline. But his key technique---the way his vocal cords strain and distort as he reaches for his favorite note---is a weakness as much as a strength. It's unique, but overused. Ask his karmic contemporary Anthony Green about that phenomenon.
Emarosa immediately establish their sound with the ear-catching opener, "The Past Should Stay Dead," a dense, dual guitar wall of sound supported by big washes of rhythm guitar and tied together by simple, catchy, repeated riffs. Spotlights immediately and permanently affix on Craig's spellbinding howls: "All at once it leaves you breathless/ With next to nothing but open hands."
The obscured, tender, whispered vocals go missing, but thunderclouds of six-string-birthed electric noise bathe Relativity like the best of early nineties shoegaze, just amped up a few extra watts. "Set It Off Like Napalm" opens with a spacious, pummeling riff filled out by Craig's barely-restrained crooning. If that's a problem for you, don't worry: he quickly jumps back into sing-yelling for the harder bulk of the tune.
Like many other singers with a distinctive style, Craig's work both imbues this record with his distinctiveness and pervades it with his favorite tricks. Even if all the other instruments are doing something wildly interesting (which happens sadly not as often as it could), Emarosa basically end up as The Jonny Craig Bar Band, playing, at times, animatronic puppet roles for Craig's personal musical Disneyland. It's not to say that (some of) the songs aren't heart-pounding in their intensity (the NASA shuttle launch ferocity of "The Past Should Stay Dead" keeps coming to mind), but a dog can only "Roll over!" so many times in a row before it ceases to be as impressive.
Something about their tone and composition suggests that Saosin devotees would love these songs. If the full length from that band (sans Green) wasn't enough, or fell short by coming off too "poppy," Emarosa just might fit the bill. Just watch out: this voice might launch a thousand ships, but they'll all sink under the weight of their fixations if they aren't careful.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally!, December 1, 2008
First of all I want to inform you that I have never once listened to Dance Gavin Dance OR the original Emarosa line-up. However, I have been a big Circa Survive and Saosin (Green moreso but Cove is OK) since both bands' inception. I saw "Relativity" in a Hot Topic. The album sticker said for fans of Circa and Saosin, and after several minutes of "do i need to spend this money?" I cracked and bought it. This has gotten me into trouble before. I spend a significant amount of money on albums, sometimes just on a whim, knowing nothing about the band in question. This has ended up biting me in the @ss with some real bad music before. But this time, I was pleasently suprised. Craig's opening vocal display on "The Past Should Stay Dead" came as close to taking my breath away (in a completely heterosexual way mind you) as i've experienced since first hearing "Translating the Name" years back. I'm hooked. This band is the best thing to come out since Secret and Whisper. Some say their sound is played, or Craig's vocal stylings are typical of the genre, but I must dissagree. Sure, a "genre" will have those who sound like others of the same style and get lost in the shuffle, which is why a group like Emarosa is that much more impressive. They are able to take the typical and warp it with talent and emotion to set themselves apart.
If you buy one prog album this year, make it "Relativity."
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best in 2008, August 1, 2008
This is one of the great screamo-hardcore album releases of the year. The singer use to sing for "dance gavin dance" but now he got with these guys and they just dominate the airwaves with explosive lyrics, shredding guitars , and hammering drums. This is a very talented band that is in my opinion a comparison to groups like Saosin, Chasing Victory , and Jimmy Eat World. The singer's voice is amazing. It was what the first thing that made me pay attention to this band. I had heard "Dance Gavin Dance", but it seems like this band puts his voice to better use and has a better overall sound. This isn't scary screaming like some death metal bands, but more melody singing kind of like Senses Fail or so. Overall, a great band, buy this record.
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