Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Hear You Scream Die Alone Broken Bones Bleeding Scapegoat From Ashes Wasting Away Man Without A Face Ghost Of Yesterday Sleep With The Devil Suicidal Drowning Release Date: March 8, 2024 Label: Fearless Records Website: killthelightsofficial.com |
James Clark - Vocals / Travis Montgomery - Guitars / Michael "Moose" Thomas - Drums
Jason "Jay" James - Bass & screaming vocals / Jordan Wheelan - Guitars
Album #2 titled Death Melodies picks up right where The Sinner left off. As the album kicks off in high gear with "Hear You Scream", we're greeted by Jay's signature scream, that many people have missed since the Bullet days, grabbing a hold of you with a tight grip and pulling you straight in like Scorpion in Mortal Kombat. Jay also kicks things off vocally in the verse, with James Clark handles the choruses with an incredibly strong vocal melody, which he does with just about every single track. Clearly, Jay hasn't lost a step on his vocal abilities. If anything, his vocals sound stronger now, given his sobriety.
One of the record's strengths is its variety. Included are some fast and pummeling tracks like "Broken Bones", "Wasting Away", "Suicidal" and my favourite of all the fast tracks, "Ghost Of Yesterday". The speed and intensity is always coupled with strong vocal hooks that are both screamed and clean, making for a potent combination. Elsewhere on the record, we get more groove-oriented and almost ballad-esque numbers like "Bleeding", one of the album's strongest points, as well as "From Ashes", "Scapegoat", "Sleep With The Devil" and the album's closer "Drowning".
When it comes to any potential flaws, it's admittedly hard to find a fault on the record. Beyond the fantastic songwriting and ability to create very memorable songs, I guess the only flaw is that for some people, this might just feel like a rehashing of The Sinner, meaning most of the same types of riffs and melodies, but just with different lyrics. From a listening standpoint, some songs hit the sweet spot harder than others. When the album's strongest cuts are taken into account, some of the rest of the songs, while also great, fail to stand up to them, which tends to be a pretty normal occurrence on just about every album ever record. With that being said, there's nothing too major here as far as flaws go.
This is a band that clearly knows its strengths. Each member of Kill The Lights is a veteran in their own right, and with two albums under their belt now, the term "supergroup" no longer applies because they're finally a stand-alone band and are here to stay. Death Melodies has plenty of memorable moments that are absolutely deserving of plenty of repeat listens. It has already secured a spot in my top albums of this year, and I can't wait to see where they go from here.
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