CD Review: The Relapse Symphony - "Shadows" (Standby Records)

If you release a flat out killer debut EP (Time’s Running Out – get on this people), then you better damn sure follow that with an equally (or more) killer debut full length. Apparently The Relapse Symphony got that memo, because Shadows is just that - killer – and even that might be too light an adjective to use. Shadows is a little bit Aiden, a little bit AFI and a little bit I Am Ghost (seriously, how flawlessly could a track like “Our Friend Lazarus Sleeps” or “We Are Always Searching” slide into Shadows' track list – check out I Am Ghost’s criminally underrated Lovers’ Requiem if you don’t already know). This record isn’t merely verse-hook-verse repeat (the guitars in “One More Yesterday” are explosive, “Angels Take Us, Demons Save Us” is a slice of pop metal, “Savage Eyes” is basically Sing The Sorrow-era AFI), and scores of snarling, fist-pumping anthems litter the track list (“We Are the Broken,” “Battlefield Of Lies,” “Walls”). “Forever Slowly,” about the closest Shadows comes to a true ballad, is one of the albums’ better cuts thanks to anthemic melodies and pained emotional screams. Calling this next level powerpop doesn't seem entirely fair, but fuck it, we’ll go with that.

Grade: A-

Go Download: "Savage Eyes"