12:00a.m. 4th July 2008

| By Nathan Woulfe

ALBUM: Where Myth Fades to Legend

ARTIST: Alesana

LABEL: Shock

VERDICT: 6/10

Purely because I hadn’t heard of these lads before, I assumed this was a debut release.

Unfortunately for them, it’s not – it’s their second effort, and as such, they should know better.

Now, the screamo/post hardcore niche is a pretty crowded one, so it takes something pretty original and inventive to really stand out, and carve a niche within the niche.

But Alesana, a six-member outfit from North Carolina, falls flat in the originality stakes.

They sing, then scream. Then sing, then scream. Then scream a little deeper.

There is precious little imagination in song structure – pretty standard verse chorus verse breakdown chorus kinda progressions, making for very predictable listening.

It is frustrating, because this could have been a great album. The song ideas were interesting - they are all based on the band members’ favourite stories and fables, which allows covering some different lyrical territory.

I’m sure plenty of kids will eat this up, it covers all the bases, but for me, that’s where the problems arise.

Use the vocals to create light and dark – lead vocalist Dennis Lee has a solid voice, sitting somewhere between Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez and AFI’s Davey Havoc, so why not make the most of it, rather than trading off every line he sings with a burst of screaming, which for the most part is pretty lame.

Throw the odd bellow or bark in every now and then to emphasise a part and add intensity to what are some pretty cool breakdowns.

On the musical side, the group employs three guitarists, but makes pretty limited use of them.

The sound is pretty thin, and for the life of me I can’t hear what the third plucker is plucking.

A three guitar line up has so much potential (Lynyrd Skynyrd any one? Different genre, I know, but you get the point) for creating complex, layered parts... but it just doesn’t happen.

Shawn Milke, Patrick Thompson and Adam Ferguson handle the axe duties and come across as adept players, but never really shine – although the breakdown at the end of And They Call This Tragedy was damn fine.

Give producer Steve Evetts a boot in the bum – he’s left the tracks sounding pretty flat and flimsy, when considering the arsenal of instruments, they should be thundering.

I’ll listen to this again, no doubt – it’s a decent listen, but it could have been so much better.