Review: Our Last Night – Age Of Ignorance

Artist: Our Last Night
Album: Age Of Ignorance
Genre: Melodic-metal
Label: Epitaph Records

At this point it certainly isn’t a secret. The metalcore scene has exploded over the last couple of years, churning out bands left and right. For some, this is exactly what they’ve been yearning for, the unique genre of clean vocals coupled with softer instrumental interludes mashed together with powerful screams and breakdowns, finally getting the attention it deserves. However this scenes’ rising popularity has led to an alarming of number bands jumping on the bandwagon and trying to cash in on the latest craze. While there may be a number of bands that rise above the rest, creating a fresh take on a redundant scene, there is a far greater amount of bands failing to stand out and simply pushing out the same ol’ sound. Enter Our Last Night with their new record Age Of Ignorance, out now on Epitaph Records.

Hailing from New Hampshire, the melodic-metal outfit Our Last Night have created a hard-rock album that, to put it simply, has been done before. Now that’s not to say there aren’t a number of bands out there re-creating a sound someone else has made and finding success and praise because there are, but does that mean everyone should follow them, trailing on their coattails looking for a piece of their own?

With that said, a stale sounding album does  not necessarily mean the album is a failure. The record does have bright spots, including the song “Liberate Me”, filled with brutal, impressive guitar work and perhaps the best vocal performance found on the record. However, considering how good this one song  is, I found myself wondering where was the passion and intensity from this track on the rest of the album.

Just as the album picks up it’s attitude, it leads into the song “Voices”, a half-acoustic, slower track that lulls the listener, and the record, back to sleep. As quick as the record grabs your attention, it loses the listener, finding themselves lost in another mediocre metalcore effort. Sure at times vocalist Trevor Wentworth’s voice soars to impressive levels and guitar-duo Matt Wentworth and Colin Perry deliver certain face-melting guitar riffs, but what metal band doesn’t? The album fails to produce anything that is exciting and captivating for fans.

While listening through the album for the first time my biggest criticism of it was the lack of originality or of any real sign of attempting to do much different. However the band does attempt to push themselves into new waters with the second to last track on the album. The band’s track “Invincible” kicks in with a electronic dance music feel before leading into another forgettable track, quickly losing the curiosity created by the song’s introduction( although there is a breakdown towards the end which sounds like a dub step sample).

While Age Of Ignorance isn’t exactly terrible,  it isn’t very good either. It’s just another example of an over-populated scene spitting out another record. With so many bands recycling sound and releasing new music, band’s like Our Last Night will need to push themselves harder and create something that hasn’t been done. Or really nail something that has.

Score: 5/10

Review written by Matthew Dondiego.

 

 

 

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