August 20th, 2009 
James Shotwell 
Artist: Emmure
Album: Felony
Genre: Hardcore
Label: Victory
Three albums in three years is something to applaud for any artist, but for one who tours as much as Emmure, it’s near unbelievable. However, this act who has been described as “so heavy it borders on hilarious,” has returned for their third Victory release, Felony. Where the prior to records were pretty straightforward chugfests, the group hopes to use this record to expand their sound, but I’m not too sure it’s going to work out the way they wanted it to.
Before I dive into this record, Iw ant to make it clear that I’ve really enjoyed Emmure’s prior to releases. Sure, they’re not really too special, but they’ve been a decent dose of heavy music with catchy lines in a time where it’s more about the look than the sound. However, from the start of this album, I knew there were rocky roads ahead. For starters, the overall sound on Felony feels a bit more raw and rough than The Respect Issue. I can appreciate wanting to sound more live, but if I’m paying for music, it should sound as good as possible.
As most can probably guess, Emmure maintain their normal lyrical themes of dark imagery and sexual relations. Throughout the album we find references to watching someone suffer, cursing an ex’s sexual exploits, and general discussion of fighting, begging for mercy, and the group’s apathy towards it all. However, there are some new elements to not only the lyrics, but the vocals that just fall on their face. For starters, nearly every track has spoken word moments, but almost to the point of rapping [at times] or, dare i say, nu metal. Also, repetition and cheese cover the record in ways that doesn’t do much, but annoy. For instance, on “Sunday Bacon,” Frankie screams “scream louder” and a secondary vocal track impersonates a female screaming. I mean, come on. That’s not terrifying, that’s simply dumb. Also, later in the album, Frank gloats, “next time you see your girlfriend, ask her how my **** tastes.” This is Emmure’s fourth release. How can they possibly think that passes in terms of lyrical abilities at this point in their career?
Musically speaking, the record does find Emmure beginning to evolve their sound a bit. Every track still seems to be a relentless assault of open chugging, but the use of accents and even some riffing has really risen. In fact, the lead guitar lines on “You Sunk My Battleship” could be used in any upcoming Guitar Hero game. Also, the drum fills and overall sound are much more diverse than we’ve found before. Instead of keeping the time for the chugging guitars like on previous records, this one find the drum [and to some extent bass] tracks taking more spotlight.
Overall, I think the one thing that rings clear at the end of Felony is that Emmure has some quick decisions to make. This record fins them battling their old, straight chug, hardcore sound with this apparent desire to grow and expand. The result of this being a hit and miss album that sounds more like songs from their unsigned days than a band releasing their 3rd album for the biggest indie label in America. It’s a disappointment for sure, but I think that with a big of time, Emmure will rise again with a new focus and more energy than ever before.
Score: 5/10
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Nuh uh.
Y’Know, sometimes it’s just idiotic listeners who only want the same thing over and over
The new album showed what the old ones didn’t: emotion. Sure you can say that the chuging they used to do showed rage, not saying it did, but in the end it was just a deep throaty voice with some guitar riffs repeated. With this record, you could tell what parts were raging, what parts were calm and what parts were filled with twisted insanity.
Listen to “Scissors” by Slipknot. It has a somewhat identical sound to this.
Although I would agree with you in some aspects (the little 2 second rap thing is pretty stupid), I will say that Felony is good in a different way. It’s a bit more nu-metal and still has that same feel like they have in previous albums. I think the lyrics are not as raw as anything in GTTG, but it’s still solid for the experimental stage that they are going through vocally and musically. Only ACDC and few others can be in the niche and stay their for the duration of their musical lives. They are pushing the envelope and naturally going towards a more mainstream while stringing along the metal with it. “Don’t Be One” was a real glimpse at the potential of the singer and how the band can really emerge as a powerful force in the upcoming new generation mainstream metal scene. I understand that it’s “not cool” to do, but you try living in a van for a year traveling the country and get down day in and day out, without stopping and thinking, “there’s gotta be some compromise”. All in all, the nu-metal mix is different especially since that time has come and gone, but in a few years all that nu-metal will come back and people will look at this album with new admiration as it was ahead and behind it’s time. They may have jumped the gun from the musical fashion loop, but all in all, I’m content with it.