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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Perfect Balance, April 8, 2004
You know a metalcore album is good when you feel your heart beating in time with the breakdown.And you know a good melody when you're singing along even though you don't know the words yet. "Burning Bridges" by Haste the Day did both of those to me, all within the same song. It's that duality of intense metalcore and heartbreaking lyricism that makes this my favorite hardcore CD. The majority of the album is fast, ferocious metalcore. They have the best recorded guitars I've heard on any standard audio CD. Their breakdowns are grabbing enough to cause a traffic accident. And their lead vocalist (four of them sing) has a throaty scream reminiscient of As I Lay Dying. It's enough to make any hardcore kid punch the floor in joy. Yet Haste the Day doesn't limit itself to screaming and breakdowns. One of their other members sings soaring melodic lines with the most wrenching voice. He has a resonance similar to Creed and Kutless without any of the accompanying nasality. When you combine the searing hardcore and unabashed lyricism Haste the Day offers, the result is usually a jaw hitting the floor. Of course, "Burning Bridges" is by no means a perfect album. Their lead vocalist doesn't have much variety in his screaming --it rarely fluctuates from a middle range. An occasional guitar dissonance or two along the lines of Norma Jean or Symphony in Peril would sharpen their songs' impact considerably. And most noticeable of the album's shortcomings is the abrupt transition in "American Love" into a lengthy clean guitar/voice duet that seems out of place. However, for fans of hard music, this CD is a must-have. "Burning Bridges" will scorch your CD player, ears and heartstrings to a blissfully contented crisp.
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