Florida-based metalcore band Fame On Fire is prepping to drop their third LP, set for release Friday, Sept. 6.
Coming a long way from the covers that brought them fame nearly a decade ago, this LP The Death Card (Hopeless Records), showcases the band at their best yet. Featuring 12 tracks, each song is titled after a tarot card, with the lyrics of each song dealing with the themes behind the represented card.
The album opens with “No Tomorrow (The Death Card)” and comes out of the gate with lyrics, “I feel resentment holding me back/our ties are severed,” helping to set the tone for the coming experience with its reoccurring theme of hopelessness and often times, self-reflection.
This idea is seen again in the track “Nothing Left (The Fool),” with lyrics, “now there’s blood in the water, it’s obvious we’re fading/there’s nothing left worth saving /you know it too,” alongside its dark undertones, but somewhat poppy approach.
Tracks like “Nightmare (The Devil)” cover topics such as bearing the weight of your own mistakes and overcoming them.
“Desire (The Moon)” is one of the highest points of the album—tinged with ambience and electronica, it contains one of the finest (however brief) breakdowns on the album, something I actually find refreshing about this album; with big burly breakdowns being such a standard in the genre, breakdowns seem small and rare amongst this tracklist, helping to make the few that DO exist much more sonically important.
“Spiral (Justice)” is yet another electronically driven track, possibly being one of the grooviest and all-the-while heaviest moments of this release.
Overall, this LP is well-delivered, incredibly cohesive and fairly refreshing for a genre that seems to repeat itself from time to time. With synth driven intros (“Chains (The Tower)”), booming bass and hip-hop-esque backbeats (“Unalive (10 of Swords)”) and even somber piano laden pop songs (“Lie to Me (7 of Swords)”) the whole release manages to cover quite a bit of ground.
The Death Card deserves a solid 3.7/5 stars. With its solid production, a lengthy tracklist and a good mix of metalcore, pop and electronica, Fame On Fire shows us what a band that was once known for its lengthy list of covers can do on their own, in time.
Favorite Tracks
“Spiral (Justice),” “Unalive (10 of Swords)”
Tracklist
"No Tomorrow (The Death Card)"
"Desire (The Moon)"
"Us Against the World (The Chariot)"
"Habits (Temperance)"
"Chains (The Tower)"
"Unalive (10 of Swords)"
"Closure (The World)"
"Lie to Me (7 of Swords)"
Pre-Save/Pre-Order Album Here
Fame On Fire are:
Bryan Kuznitz (vocals)
Blake Saul (guitar)
Paul Spirou (bass)
Alex Roman (drums)
Tour with Wage War, Erra, Thrown
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Follow Fame On Fire
https://www.fameonfireband.com
https://www.instagram.com/fameonfire/
https://m.facebook.com/fameonfire
https://m.youtube.com/FameOnFireOfficial
Like the review. The songs I’ve heard that are linked are good and I want to hear it all when it comes out. Seeing them with wage war in Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteGood read. Detailed on the songs.
ReplyDeleteGreat review Christian! Super proud of you
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