Dillon Keene | Janurary 1, 2015

 

“Save Me Tragedy” starts out with the familiar guitar strumming you remember from the original version. The acoustic instrumentation gives it a deeper, warmer tone that I enjoyed. This song's backing has an almost haunting sound that sets the mood for the lyrics being sung over it. Lines like “Somebody save me from the terror I've become / And when my conscience is clear I will not bite my tongue” fit the music well. With just the singer's clean vocals, however, the vocals seem to become repetitive.

 

“Crash Down” goes from A to B and doesn't do much in the form of straying off that path. There's a little screaming which breaks up the higher pitched clean singing. The stringed instruments provide a sound that gives the song almost an orchestral feel. While there are little changes in the strumming and tempo, it still blends in too much with the rest of the album for my taste.

 

“Rise” has a faster tempo to start off which is refreshing. I enjoyed the more middle-pitched vocals and how they accompany the music. The leading riff is repeated too much for my liking and loses its allure by the song's end. The lack of screaming vocals and electric guitars takes away from the little variety that the original version featured. I feel that this song is much better suited to be a full-band one.

 

Overall, if you're already a fan of A Skylit Drive and Rise, then you will probably enjoy this. It's something fresh to hold you over until they release a new album full of original songs. If you've never heard them before, I would suggest starting with something else. I personally was not a fan of it. I found it to be repetitive and couldn't get into the vocal style. After listening to their previous material, I am very confused that they have been labeled a post-hardcore band.

 

Rise: Ascension is out now on Tragic Hero Records, both digitally and in physical format.