A while back, I attended a local show. I was there to see some friends in the band, Vaudeville (I believe I've mentioned them before on here), but another band caught my ear. Now, I didn't have a lot of money to throw around at the time, but I had a five dollar-bill in my pocket, and to my fortune, the band had provided a coupon of sorts to purchase one of their albums for exactly that price. Well, I took them up on the offer, and briefly mentioned to the gentleman from the band who sold the disc to me that I did this blog, and they may appear on an upcoming entry.
Wow... Looking back, that was a really long winded way to say this: I got a local beer, so I decided I would review a local band. Sorry... Sometimes my fingers get away from me.
Anywho, what I know about Semeron:
They released this album.
So I know nothing. I know they once played with my friends' band, and (through my "vigorous" research) I know they have a neat story-esque bio that I skimmed because I are journalism good.
As for that local beer? I went with Summit's Saga IPA because one I haven't had yet. Two beers in, I'm not blown away, but I must say that it goes down smooth. So before I pour too many down my mouth hole, on to the review!
Album:
Semeron - Breathing Scarlet
Alcohol:
Summit Saga IPA
"Afro Blue" starts us out slow and prettily with an acoustic guitar before an electric cuts through urging us into a heavy driving tune. The riffs are nice and rock-y. A neat little opening solo line moves the song along. Dropping now, and that solo appears, at least for now, to be the focal melody. A lot of cool things happening. Really cool chord structuring and movement in the rhythm section, and the melody continues to draw you in. In the ways of instrumentals, I can dig it. It even has the courtesy not to last for days.
"Can't Take Me Alive" ramps up the energy in the opening before settling into a driving rock tune. Vocals are nice, and harmonies are solid here. A lot of really cool guitar things are happening behind the vocals, and kudos to whoever mixed this as they aren't buried nor do they distract from the vocals. Nice solo work there, and again great rhythmic compliments. The tempos changes keep this tune exciting, and give it a better-than-radio-rock sound even though there are a lot of radio rock elements to it. Nice little interlude-y part into... Oh... The end. Legit.
Punchy open to "Cherry Blossoms". The song has a nice slow rock feel to it. The vocals give a really nice feel. The harmonies are great. And the vocals flirt with pretty, but embrace gritty. I like it. This song features beautiful progression from verse to chorus, but fails to conitue the growth when the it refrains. Drop out to acoustic... Very pretty. Here the vocals do a lot of that "Flirting with pretty" I mentioned before. And even when we kick back in. The shout of sorts is done prettier. Soloing here again, and I LOVE the rhythm section. The soloing is great, but the rhythm section is what sells it. Cool.
"Trees" comes in slow, but rather epic feeling. vocals add tension. Growing sat the guitar comes in. The build into that chorus and the chorus itself are killer. Again, making that mistake of a simple rehashing of the first round of verse-chorus. But moves into a slow-but driving bridge that picks up. Seriously, the tempo transitions are smooth and beautiful. Just like a curvy woman. Still loving the solos. And yeah, that chorus is cool.
Guitars bring us into "Honalee". Nice punchy intro drops into a low verse, but the guitars bring back tension and growth. They keep building and dropping deepening the tension and drawing me in. Now full drop to voice and acoustic guitar... And here is our legitimate kick in. Riffs are killer, and the vocals really shine over them. And into a nice solo before dropping back to the tension feel of the last half of the first verse. This is how you build through out a tune. Getting better guys. And you weren't at all bad to begin with. I really dig this tune. It's like a really grab you by the balls ballad. Seriously, if all long winded solos had as much interesting rhythm changes underneath of them, I don't think I'd hate so much contemporary metal. Love it. Weird ending, but cool tune.
"Ship Of Fools" opens with very pretty guitar, and grows with equally pretty vocals. I really thought early on, while I like the vocals, they feel limited. These last few tracks gave me an abrupt slap to the face. There is some nice--oh shit! This... Like... Quick buts low-key part. Cool as hell! And back into slow and pretty. Cool. Drop out here. Weird reverb on the vocals almost took me out of the whole feel, but it's cool. the kick in snapped me back. It's so cool to hear music in a style you aren't typically fond of done in a way you can't possibly hate. That being said. If the next song completes a trio of ballads, I'm not going to be happy... Give me some energy..
Building bass give me hope. Guitars provide more hope, and "Crusher" settles into an angry feeling ball of tension. Opening up with nice guitar. Ahh.. Here we are back to straight up hard rock. Granted. Whoa... Guitar interlude is killer.a nd they keep it going under a killer solo. Yeah... I dig. Drop out to vocals and drums... And into driving guitars. You are really growing in your song writing over just one album aren't you Semeron. =P Seriously, though, this is a killer hard rock tune, and I'm not even heavy into hard rock... Does that mean it's actually a bad hard rock tune? Nah.
Slowing us back down is "Rain". while I have not complaints about the song, I really wanted continued energy from--oh never mind. Thatkick in will do... Drops out again, but it's enough. I mean... It is another ballad, but it makes sense as a setup to close the disc. I should also mention that it is a solid track. I have no problems with the song, but so many ballads--shit... That driving guitar is giving me all kinds of tension... Holy shit.. The mother of all pay offs that was cool. I'll just stop complaining now.
"Prelude In Em" opens pretty and acoustically. and I'm going to assume that it is going to say wight hat. I love the string noise... It's always a touch more intimate when that can be heard. very pretty.
And nice transistioning right into "Our Sky" although I could have seen the titels and placement and assumed that was the intention and what would happen. Anywho. Our sky is... SURPRISE! Another ballad. Pretty, but--Oh, here we go. Picking up. Give me something a little more. Where is my pay off? Not bad, but yeah... It's a ballad. At this point, I won't be a dick; this disc may be half ballads, but at least they all have their own unique touch to them, and all done well. I suppose ballads are just what they do. I'll accept it. And incidentally, enjoy it.
Final Thoughts:
Killer disc. Truly. But as a some of the songs. Not necessarily as a straight listen. They do so much so well, but no matter how good you are, put that many ballad-esque songs before me, and I'm going to start feeling like I have lead boots. Worth the listen especially for those rock fans out there who need to get away from the Five Finger Death Punches (Shutters) of the rock world. I give you a great local act that doesn't suck and is, in fact, really fucking awesome. I said it, so obviously, it's true.
-Badhorse
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