Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation

by

Funeral for a Friend

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I consider myself a "hardcore" music fan. I am always searching for new music of all sorts of genres. I have a rather large CD collection, and I enjoy a lot of avant-garde, progressive, "strange" music (as well as good stuff from other genres, from free jazz to black metal to bluegrass). I seek out original artists/bands that do new things and push the boundaries of music even further. Part of being "hardcore", though, is realizing that one must not get lost in his or her own "elitism", i.e. one must sometimes crucify one's preconceived notions of an artist, or maybe even an entire genre.

So, I really shouldn't like this album. I don't typically listen to this "emo-metal" stuff (unless you happen to count Thrice as "emo-metal", in which case you kinda don't know what you're talking about), because, in general, it sucks. I don't know why I bought it in the first place. I guess I was subconsciously drawn to it for some reason, and even so, I still shouldn't actually like the music within. Maybe my subconscious had already crucified my preconceived notions for me?

Anyway, I like this album. A lot. In fact, when I get around to listening to it, I usually end up listening three or four times. It's really catchy, and emotional (probably even "emo"), features good use of musical dynamics, and every song is of relative equal quality (meaning I think they're all pretty dang good).

It should seem like one big cliche` of an album, but for some reason when I listen to it, I can look past everything that would normally make me, um, look past this album. I don't know. The songwriting is really good. The instrumentation is really good. The vocals (although sometimes pretty damn "emo") are really good. The lyrics are really good. This is just a really good album that I keep coming back to, even though I shouldn't. Maybe they have just _perfected_ every genre cliche` into their own perfect little cliche`.

But that's not to entirely discredit this album's originality. They do some pretty sweet things with guitar-tapping, staccato riffing, and some really nice moments of quietness that, for some reason, make me think about walking through a park, with the multi-colored autumn leaves falling around me, a cool wind blowing them around in circles.

If you're into this sorta thing, you'll totally dig this album. If you generally despise this sorta thing, maybe this album is still worth giving a shot. Perhaps you should crucify any thoughts you already have of this album. Besides, open-mindedness is another rule of being "hardcore".