Emmure - "Speaker of the Dead' Album review.

I remember the day I 'found' Emmure. I was surfing the net and was looking through the Victory Records site and came across the song '10 Signs You Should Leave' and I thought it was the best thing ever. That album, 'Goodbye To The Gallows'. is still the benchmark for many deathcore albums and for good reason. Then came the album 'The Respect Issue' and while I think its decent, comparatively to their other stuff it was bland and repetitive. Most recently the band released the album 'Felony' which didn't have the staying power that the previous two had but was sonically a powerful album. "Speaker of the Dead is the new effort from Emmure and I'm mixed again, but not mixed like I normally am. Normally I'm mixed on the quality of the music and since I normally give vocals some lea-weigh since I don't care about them, it doesn't work like that for Emmure. I can understand almost every word of these songs and that's not a good thing. SO, does the silly lyric writing ruin and otherwise great effort?

I want to first talk about the the song structure of Emmure, and this is true for this album as well as the previous. I read somewhere that Emmure's music is just one long 'Breakdown' (meaning the part of the song that gets super heavy and you hardcore dance too). I agree that the music is designed to not be boring ever. You could literally bang your head to the entire thing with ease. Songs are in your face and brutal as hell and that's a great thing. Even when it slows down its still punishing stuff. When the song 'Solar Flare Homicide' or 'Demons With Ryu' I can't help but want to get up and hit something. The albums a pretty good length for Emmure as well. Clocking in at around 40 minutes its a pretty interestingly heavy event.

Not everything is good about the album. The drumming this time seems lazy and uneventful. It doesn't had too the music in the past. Almost like the drummers going through the motions. I swear he uses the same blast beat in almost every song. Hes a talented guy and I don't want to give you the idea that he's bad at what he does because hes certainly not. I just really expect progression when it comes to the drumming. The bass is also an after through, which is hardly surprising.

The last thing I want to address are the lyrics. I want to get one thing perfectly straight. I LOVE THE VOCALS. I tend not to name names when doing reviews because it makes it more personal but damn Frankie Palmeri is fucking sick. Even when hes not screaming he sounds like a bad ass. If I was to create the perfect metal singer his scream would be in there not doubt. Having said that he can't write lyrics to save his fucking life. Apparently he's getting dumped every album because the songs are all about a girl being a bitch, or cheating on him, its just not needed. There's a song on the album called 'Drug Dealer Friend' and I might be taking these lyrics out of context, but they are.

I want to watch you suck his dick. I know you fucking love it... Bitch

The more and more I read the lyrics of the song I start to think its a little homosexual. Maybe thats what he was going for, but its just very silly and immature.

In summery if you want brutal, crushing metal with the lyrics of Dashboard confessional, then Emmure is your band. I personally love the band and I'm not ashamed to say it.

'Speaker of the Dead' gets 3.8 Credo's out of 5

'Area 64-66'


Tracklist:
01. Children of Cybertron (1:34)
02. Area 64-66 (2:33)
03. Dogs Get Put Down (3:03)
04. Demons With Ryu (3:02)
05. Solar Flare Homicide (3:50)
06. Eulogy of Giants (1:52)
07. Bohemian Grove (3:23)
08. 4 Poisons 3 Words (2:57)
09. Cries of Credo (2:44)
10. Last Words To Rose (2:55)
11. A Voice From Below (1:58)
12. Drug Dealer Friend (2:38)
13. My Name Is Thanos (2:09)
14. Lights Bring Salvation (2:27)
15. Word of Intulo (1:15)