Hawthorne Heights

Zero

JT Woodruff – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

Micah Carli – Lead Guitar, Unclean Vocals

Eron Bucciarelli – Drums

Matt Ridenour – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Mark McMillion – Guitars

            We are going to take a few hour fieldtrip from my hometown down to Dayton, Ohio for this next review. The band, Hawthorne Heights, formed in 2001 under the name A Day in the Life. 2004 seen the band release their first album, The Silence in Black in White. Their next album arrived in 2006 and peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 charts. The band’s third album hit stores in 2008 and after a label change the forth album arrived in 2010. After releasing two-thirds of an EP trilogy the band signed to Red River Entertainment in 2013 and released a full length concept album in June. The fifteen track album spreads 44 minutes and gets going with “Skeletons Remain (Transmission 1)” which is a short little thing that flows into “Memories of Misery.” The second track is another short tune, but twice as long as the opening song. The track has a nice poppy feel to it with a steady beat and clean vocals that scream Warped Tour. The tune moves along with ease and truly gets the album going. “Darkside” opens up with a short intro of pounding drums and guitars before the vocals come into the mix. Once everything is mashed together the track sounds great. It flows along catching your ear at every twist and turn. The chorus is fabulous while the music backing those vocals roll along. It sounds great and might be a new favorite track of many. “Spark” is another awesome tune. It’s so easy to get into with the smooth vocals and tunes flying all over the place. The lyrics are well written and loads of folks can cling onto them, I know I did. Just everything about this track is infectious and sticks with you. “Zero” slows the pace down a bit; however they place a bigger emphasis on the vocals. They are slow and drawn out. I really didn’t get into this one at all. The lyrics were okay like the music, but neither inspired me to keep coming back. “Anywhere But Here” is an okay tune with fresh vocals flying all over the place. The opening section of music is solid, but gets watered down when the vocals come in. I just didn’t fall in love with this tune, but I feel that someone will at some point. “Hollow Hearts Unite” slows the album down to a crawl. The heartfelt tune offers up simple guitars and soft spoken vocals. It's a nice change of pace as well as a change of sound. “Coalition of Alternate Living Methods (Broadcast)” is a short minute tune. “Golden Parachutes” begins with a cool little guitar before the rest of the guys show up. As a whole the track is super catchy and hard to ignore. Vocals are flying around all over the place while the tunes glide along with ease. It’s a solid tune that can be played and replayed. “Put Me Back Together” is an okay tune. It really didn’t excite me very much with all the “whoo ooo’s” that they put into the track. The gang vocals are solid as is the music, but the track doesn’t stick with you. “Strangers” is a slower tune with emotional lyrics and vocals. The music sweeps along with ease just like most of the others and the little guitar solo that they give up also sounds okay. I just feel that, like the previous track, it lacks that special element to make it stand out. “Ghost Town” is an over the top sounding track. There are big moments throughout the track that are highlighted with big vocals. The music is descent as well, but there are moments that seem too lackadaisical. This is another track that just doesn’t do it 100% for me. “Lost In The Calm” gets the album back on track with a huge offering of tunes and vocals. It sounds solid with screaming vocals and ripping guitars not to mention the pounding drums. The tune sounds great and will get a crowd into the show. It’s easy to pick up and run with because of the great vibe and awesome lyrics. “Taken By The Dark” is more on the metal side of things that the pop rock style. There are still vibes of the pop rock, but for the most part I hear more metal, because of the style of the music. The track is super catchy and is one that I repeated over and over. It rolls along with ease and sounds great. “Over And Out (Transmission 2)” wraps up the album with a voiceover that actually will hit you hard. I’d take a listen at least once. Overall the album is okay. There are spots and tracks that you will, like I did, fall in love with. However, there are also spots that seem a bit weak. I like the vocals as I always to with Hawthorne Heights. They also seem to work some magic into the way the vocals are delivered. The music also changes up throughout the album. I think that there are tracks on the album that will stick with fans more that the casual music goers, but there are also tracks that will draw those casual listeners into real fans.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Tracks to Watch:

Darkside, Spark, Lost In The Calm

Track List:

1. Skeletons Remain (Transmission 1)
2. Memories of Misery
3. Darkside
4. Spark
5. Zero
6. Anywhere But Here
7. Hollow Hearts Unite
8. Coalition of Alternate Living Methods (Broadcast)
9. Golden Parachutes
10. Put Me Back Together
11. Strangers
12. Ghost Town
13. Lost In The Calm
14. Taken By The Dark
15. Over And Out (Transmission 2)

Website (s):  www.hawthorneheights.com