Music Review: Echoes the Fall - "Bloodline"

Another review for EMURG.com music blog

Echoes the Fall is:

Jeromy Moorehead- Vocals (Current)

Mike Gable- Guitars

Mitch Gable- Drums

Trevor Keeling- Bass

Myles Byrum- Guitar

Former:

David Mackey- Vocals (Bloodline)

Bloodline, the debut full-length album by the five-man band Echoes the Fall, is a record that blends an original powerful sound with familiar styles trail-blazed by other popular bands of the last decade such as Trapt and Staind. The alternative rock quintet from Phoenix, Arizona manages to establish itself amongst other modern rock juggernauts with an album that doesn’t hesitate to make use of thumping, heavy instrumentals, satisfying choruses and opening verses, edgy and pulse-pounding riffs and others surprising amenities that will surely bring in a plethora of new rock and metal fans.

The album is kicked off with the opening track, “Break Away.” I was instantly hooked on this song



 as soon as I was fed the opening riff. It’s one of those riffs that has an aggressive, almost industrial-sounding tandem to it, similar to opening riffs that I’d heard from bands like Staind and Drowning Pool. This riff is used again in some of the verses building up to the choruses. This was another satisfying aspect of the song; the way the song gradually builds up tandem and power to the dramatic choruses. After listening to this song, I can easily picture it adorning action movie soundtracks due to its pulsing yet rhythmic riffs and a chorus that has a slightly slower pace yet more emphasis on powerful instrumentals. As the album’s first single and one of the heaviest, aggressive and instrumentally satisfying songs on the album, this can easily be the prime draw-in for new fans delving into the band’s sound.

“Here to Stay” is a slightly slower-paced song that nonetheless makes use of the band’s masterful use of a grinding metallic sound through its guitar and bass (Mike Gable and Myles Byrum-Guitar; Trevor Keeling-Bass). Throughout the song I’ve also drawn comparisons between the singing styles of vocalist David Mackey and Trapt’s Chris Brown; although as I’ve listened to Bloodline more and more, I find Mackey’s vocals to actually be edgier and heavier (in a good way). His vocals really flow well with the band’s pulsing sound; particularly in this song’s choruses where his vocals come off as strong yet emotional, helping to amplify the song’s message about love.

“A Life Less Loved” has a fluid drum opening by drummer Mitch Gable, which quickly mashing together wonderfully with another awesome riff. Despite the collective use of instrumentals, I did find the song to be somewhat run-of-the-mill lyrically, at least in comparison to the two tracks that preceded it. Nonetheless, it is a fluid song that exemplifies the five members of the band working instrumentally as a functional unit throughout the verses.

“Bloodline”, the self-titled track for the album, makes the strongest use of bass thus far, in my opinion. In the opening and closing of the song, the bass sound gives sort of an empty void feeling (again, in a good way) that preps the listener for the rest of the song. The lyrics for the choruses could have been a little more original, but I can’t entirely fault it because Mackey’s adaptability and being able to take on a more melodic turn during the chorus makes up for it.

“Things Will Change (This Time Around)” was my personal favorite track on the album. The parallel beat of the bass and drums that open this song is extremely satisfying and provides most of the framework for the subsequent verses. Even without listening to the rest of the song, I immediately found myself listening to this over and over again just for the juicy opening. But, once the guitar and vocals come into play, it gets even better. Lyrically and vocally, I also found this to be amongst Mackey’s most powerful work on the album. I felt in the choruses that I could almost level with the emotion portrayed in Mackey’s edgy yet solid singing. Overall, the song is strong and has a subtle hint of anger as it, lyrically, delves into the idea of redemption. I think this song, along with “Break Away”, have the potential to be real hooks that can draw new listeners into their elemental sound. It is also noteworthy that the final track of this album is an acoustic version of “Things Will Change (This Time Around).” This too is just as satisfying as the regular version but with more melody and a hint of subtle tragedy mixed it.

“Dirty Water” is that primarily-melodic, slower paced song on the album. Its position in terms of track listing was spot on because of the fact that it was the melodic one. It was a pleasant change to be assaulted by the full heavy ensemble that you get in the first five tracks before retracting back to get a slower song in “Dirty Water.”

“Your Move”, I felt to be that inspirational “battle-cry” song that seems to also be heavy enough to be riot-staring material. This idea holds true in the later vocal verse of the song in which Mackey says in almost a speech-like manner, “Don’t ever be afraid to take it to the extreme. Don’t ever be afraid to push the limits.” Since the song is called “Your Move”, it then makes sense that the track really serves as a challenge to push yourself to your fullest potential.

“Black and White” was amongst my favorite songs on the album as well. Lyrically, I really enjoyed the song because it really begs you to question whether or not you are looking at the world subjectively and in shades of grey, or through lenses of black and white. Those lyrics in the choruses, along with the ever-powerful instrumentals, really made this song the introspective dramatic track that I can appreciate.

Finally, “Eye of the Tiger” is a metal-infused cover song of the famous single by the band Survivor. Do you remember that inspirational theme song from Rocky III? Well, there’s that, and then there’s the edgier Echoes the Fall version with stronger riffs and vocals. I actually found this spin-off to be a great addition to the album, and I dare say that I would have gotten even more fired up from watching Rocky Balboa doing his thing if this version of the song had been the driving force behind it instead.

Bloodline overall was a very entertaining album that combined familiarities from well-known rockers while establishing a new tasteful sound for Echoes the Fall. Their powerful instrumentals exemplified in addicting songs like “Break Away” and “Things Will Change (This Time Around)” really get your fired up and craving more. I’ll certainly be listening to their music further down the road and look forward to hearing new powerful, elemental sounds from these Phoenix rockers.