Band: Close Your Eyes
Title: We Will Overcome
Label: Victory Records
Release Date: 2010
Review By: Steve
Track Listing:
- A Proclamation
- Friends Are Friends Forever
- xChet Steadmanx
- Digging Graves
- The Body
- Song For The Broken
- 17:20
- Wake Up!
- Bitter Path
- Something Needs To Change
- Arms Raised
WOW is all I have to say about this album! If you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks and months, then maybe you have not heard about this great new band named Close Your Eyes. About this time last year, they released a great self-titled EP. Since releasing their EP in 2009, this five-piece melodic hardcore band out of Abilene, Texas signed with Victory Records; and they are poised to take the hardcore world by storm. Imagine your favorite hardcore band taking it up a notch because that is what Close Your Eyes is doing. If you liked their EP then you are going to love We Will Overcome even more. I think I need to say WOW one more time!
What is the so good about the album you ask? Well for starters, it has extremely catchy vocals that will have you singing along by the end of the first track. Along with the catchy, clean vocals, Shane Raymond throws in some great deep, throaty growls that will impress any hardcore fan. Lyrically, Close Your Eyes is very refreshing due to the positive, uplifting, and edifying message they have. I believe their message of hope is what makes Close Your Eyes unique and refreshing. Close Your Eyes definitely has crossover appeal, and their message will be a refreshing change to the negative and whiney message filling the secular side.
So, what else besides the vocals make this album so good? We Will Overcome boasts some very muscular breakdowns. Do not let the “melodic” adjective fool you. Close Your Eyes is definitely not a boy band trying to go heavy. Close Your Eyes bring the heaviness with some authority. There are some soft parts on this album, but the majority of the album is heavy with powerful riffs and muscular breakdowns. About half of the album is heavy, melodic hardcore while the rest of the album has more of a pop punk sound. This mix keeps the album moving forward without letting you get bored.
We Will Overcome is the complete package. It is all there, the heavy parts combined with the dual clean vocals and deep growls, and you will be surprised at how hooked you will get on this album. You will feel the love and passion Close Your Eyes put in this album without getting choked with too many breakdowns or boring lyrics. There are too many good songs on the album for me to single out just one as my favorite, but I really liked “Friends Are Friends Forever”, “Digging Graves”, “The Body”, and “Song For The Broken” because these were these were some of the hardest songs and had the best growls on them.
Overall: This album is definitely built to please and is a must buy for any melodic hardcore fan. You definitely need to mark down February 16th because this is the day that Close Your Eyes starts to take over your stereo and iPod. In a genre chock-full of cookie cutter bands, Close Your Eyes definitely sets themselves apart from the pack.