REVIEW: I The Mighty – ‘Satori’

June 17th, 2013

Kriston McConnell

Artist: I The Mighty
Album: Satori
Genre: Alternative rock
Label: Equal Vision Records

Who are I The Mighty? They seem to have exploded in the last couple of years, though they’ve been together since 2008 and a part of the Equal Vision Records family since 2011. They released their Karma Never Sleeps EP back in March of 2012, which is right around the time they started catching the attention of the masses. They sure caught ours over here at UTG.

Satori is the band’s third album, and first full length. It promises to skyrocket these guys to a new level of success. Boasting thirteen full tracks, this album could easily help make or break them. It’s not easy to engage the listener for nearly an hour, especially considering most albums being released in this genre right now are 30 to 40 minutes in length.

Satori bursts to life with the first single they released, “Speak To Me.” This track showcases all of the best elements the band has to offer, between the catchy chorus, the occasional scream and the overall new aggression in the band’s sound. You can hear the passion in the way they play this song, in all of the songs really. “The Frame II: Keep Breathing” changes the pace a little bit — Brent slows things down and really flexes his vocal capabilities. This track is a throwback to their EP, Karma Never Sleeps, which is something they do a number of times during the entire album.

“Four Letter Words” is my personal favorite song on the album. Brent’s vocals contrasting with the female vocals really make the song perfect. It has a great chorus chock full of cleverly written lyrics, which are skillfully sung by both Brent and the female vocalist. I would love to hear more songs like this from these guys, with various guest vocalists. It’s something that can bring uniqueness to tracks that maybe wouldn’t sound so well with just one person singing.

Honestly, there are too many fantastic songs on this record to go into how each and every one of them is great in their own way. Considering this is the band’s first full length album, they did very impressive work. A lot of debut full lengths fall flat on their faces or are too ambitious for their own good. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some weaker moments on the album, so it’s not perfect, but then again how many bands’ debut full lengths are “perfect”? All I can say is that this is a solid release — one of my favorites so far this year and will probably end up being one of my favorites at the end of the year.

The best part of this band is their clever lyricism; catchy choruses are just as important to the success of a band as skillful guitar playing or the voice of the vocalist(s). These guys have some memorable verses, and they are done justice by Brent’s passionate singing. The album itself is not very technical or intricate, though there are some strong guitar parts that stand out, but overall the album is very lyrically driven.

If you liked “Speak To Me,” then you should definitely pick up Satori, you won’t be disappointed. If they keep this up they will have a long and bright future ahead of them.

SCORE: 9/10
Review written by Kriston McConnell