Search - End :: Elementary

2 stars is extremely generous

Paul N. Olsen | 02/27/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"'Elementary' may be a lot of things: more straightforward, more 'song-oriented,' more radio-friendly, etc. But it is not representative of The End, who were, until this album, one of the most original and unique bands in extreme music. The band's first EP, 'Transfer Trachea Reverberations From Point: False Omnicient,' is one of the most stunning debuts ever, and their first full-length, 'Within Dividia,' melded the band's musical complexity with just the right amount of texture and atmosphere.



'Elementary,' unfortunately, sounds like a completely different band, and that is not a good thing, because The End once sounded like themselves, and now they sound just like every other hardcore/emo act in existence. Indeed, if you had never heard the band before, and you listened to their first album, and then listened to 'Elementary,' you would have no idea it was the same band.



Now, I am all for a band maturing and growing, but this album is an extreme regression. What's wrong with staying true to your original sound? There was a time when you could not pinpoint direct influences for this band, except maybe Dillinger Escape Plan (and this comparison has always been a big, big stretch). Now, you can hear a little bit of Tool, a little bit of Meshuggah, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, until what's left is a band with no distinct identity. If I want to hear these other bands, I will listen to them.



I cannot overstate enough how generic the music on 'Elementary' is compared to their old stuff. All of these songs could easily be played on MTV or modern-rock radio. I'm not saying it's absolutely terrible (although some of it is); there are some memorably catchy moments on the album. Probably the best song on here is 'Animals,' which starts out as a heavier, more straightforward version of music on 'Within Dividia.' The middle section is a mid-tempo, melodic section that is repetitive but catchy. 'Awake' is the only song that even sounds anything like 'Within Dividia,' and it seems thrown in just to please old fans, and to prevent the listener from nodding off.



Why does this sort of thing happen to bands? It's like they took 'songwriting' lessons in order to gain more mass appeal. Nobody listens to The End to hear heartfelt ballads and emo vocals. People listen to The End because they are incredible, virtuoso musicians who write music that buzzes with energy and excitement, which, unfortunately, you will not find much of on 'Elementary.'"

If tech metal band The End are trying to confuse us all once

Mogollon | USA | 02/12/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First things first; If you are planning on buying something from this band, DO NOT GET THIS ALBUM FIRST!!! This is not The End you want to know first. I was really looking forward to this release because I thought it was going to be something worth buying for once in a long while. Considering their past resume of music writing quality and ability, I was hoping this would be a total departure from anything even close to the monstrous two former albums. This they did. They just went the wrong direction.



This album eludes me completely. Is is The End's answer to Opeth's Deliverance, is this the way they are trying to confuse us. Tech metal is supposed to be thought provoking and quite confusing. This album was both, but not in a musical sense that most people that listen to this type of music are used to. First off, there is way too much groove to make this anything close to Tech Metal. Second, too much acoustic playing, singing, and melodic content for is to be tech metal. This is what you get when you take an old album by The End, slow it down, and change every groove to some random time signature over 4 (?/4). This album IS confusing in the sense that it isn't Tech Metal at all, and a total musical REgression from anything written by them in the past. The album itself sounds great, in the recording and production sense of it. This is a decent album. It is NOT, however, The End. It is more of a statement that since metal is starting to re-emerge out of obscurity(?), and scene kid teens are buying more crap than quality, that The End wants to dip its own hand into that cookie jar. Take this album for what it is. Listen to it and create the most un-biased opinion of it that you can, and move on. Definitely not the masterpiece this band is capable of. if you are about to buy an album by this band for the first time, I suggest Transfer Trachea. I do suggest buying this album, but not before buying one of the other albums first."

It's different, and I thoroughly enjoyed it

Matthew | houston, tx United States | 04/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These reviews are incredibly harsh. This is a fantastic album. It's an amazing blend of very difficult to master styles and all of them are done perfectly. The ambient sections are never too long or boring like so many sub-popular bands these days... the emo part is never annoyingly off-key or overly self-indulgent. the lyrics are heartfelt and interesting.



the problem these people seem to have with it is that it doesn't sound the same as their last albums (which, i agree, were great), but they can't make the same album every time, it would be pointless. maybe the next album they'll go back and make their first album again and everyone will be happy. also, this album could be accessible enough to bring a whole new audience to grind, ambient, and metalcore. is it better than their other albums? i don't know. all i know is that it's different, and it's good.



in the end, it's just a bunch of very talented, inspired guys making beautiful music."