Misery Signals is one of those bands that aren’t yet huge but their fans are passionate about their music. This review will be about their record Controller that was released in 2008. It’s their latest record to date, but is it their best work?
Many people have called metalcore a dying genre, which in a sense I can understand. It’s oversaturated with bands and new bands just keep on coming. Metalcore have become a genre where this type of aggressive music can get more mainstream. Labels, bands etc obviously use this to their advantage. Now a days it seems that you really don’t have to posses any talent to get signed. Labels push out new bands daily it seems. Not only that but with sites as Myspace, Facebook and the like, it’s easier then ever to get people talking about your band. Finding the good bands can at times seem to be impossible, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.
Misery Signals is a metalcore band to it’s very core. But do they deserve the attention they have been getting? Yes. This actually is one of those bands that deserves a lot of praise. They are not trying to hide the fact that they are a metalcore band. Breakdowns, chugga chugga riffs etc it’s all there. But it’s how they use them that makes them stand out. They can smash your head in with a bat then to make up for it, give you a nice home cooked meal before they hit you with the frying pan. It’s this back and forth between different styles within their own music that makes them stand out. One second they have this “chugga chugga, here comes the train that will run you over” sound and the next second this delightful soft part in the song where you like “Ah what a nice warm bath”. Suddenly you notice Snooki in the corner of your bathroom and you almost die of terror, it’s this kind of back and forth movements in their music that makes them special. Sure other bands do this too, but not as good as Misery Signals do it.
This is the second record vocalist Karl Schubach and he sounds a lot better on “Controller” than he did on the previous album “Mirrors”. I mean, it sounds like a fucking beast is coming out of your speakers. He sounds so angry, like if he had to listen to those got damn Jonas Brothers over and over again. In some ways Karls lyrics can be somewhat cryptic, in other ways it’s as clear as glass. He possess a vocabulary(!). Something that many vocalists don’t have or don’t want to show(?). This does not apply to Karl. These lyrics have flow, they are good. Word by word it all comes together, every things just fits perfectly. Karl sounds intelligent, something that can’t be said about many vocalists in the metalcore/hardcore world. Trying to match up words so they rhyme is not Karl’s game. He speaks his mind and doesn’t try to get fancy with it.
Ryan Morgan and Stu Ross(left 2010), what can be said besides, oh my god! I love these guys. They really know how to use their guitars to make amazing songs. Seriously, listen to “Homecoming”, tell me that isn’t an awesome song? I will fucking slap you if you say otherwise. Every thing they do on this album is pure gold. Everything fits together amazingly well. They know exactly what riff should be where in a song, if it should be clean/distorted etc. Sometimes when you hear a track you will think “well the riff is ok, but they could have done better”, that isn’t the case with “Controller”. Each and every riff, lick, chugga chugga moment is amazing. There is no “meh” moment on this record.
Branden Morgan is amazing behind the drums. He is a really good drummer, easily one of the best within metalcore. I don’t know much about drums, but that I know. Just listen to Misery Signals, it’s all there. He makes fills, make use of polyrhythms and just makes every song complete with his drumming. One pretty amazing thing about Misery Signals is that you can actually hear bassist Kyle Johnson (left 2010) which in it self should give major credit to the band. Not many bands within the metalcore community would dare to do that, it’s “blasphemy”.
Controller is one of the best metalcore albums in recent years. It’s 3 years old and still cuts it between the best metalcore records ever made? Really amazing. It’s technical, it’s intense, it’s emotional, it’s Misery Signals. As I said in the start of this review, this band is pure gold. Controller is their best album to date, it’s the among the best within it’s genre. Doesn’t that speak loads of how good this album actually is? This is progressive, it’s different from what everyone else is doing, it wants to grab your attention. This is a benchmark for all metalcore bands and will probably be just that for along time to come. Check these guys out, you won’t regret it.
Rating: 5/5
Aggressive music 