Artist: Sever Your Ties
Album: Safety in the Sea
Label: Solid State
Release Date: July 8th
Review By: Kimberly Johnson
01 Voice Like A Nova 03:16
02 After A Storm 03:02
03 Hand in Hand 02:54
04 This is What You Get 04:07
05 Captive 03:48
06 Drifting 02:58
07 Things Are Better (Left Unsaid) 03:01
08 To the Pacific 02:39
09 Here I Am 02:42
10 Ashamed 02:38
11 (Don’t Fear) the Reaper 03:34
For a band with such an evolving sound over the years, I’m pretty proud of the spot they’ve settled in with their debut full-length album, Safety in the Sea. Sever Your Ties have pretty well solidified themselves in the So Cal Christian music scene with their previous releases and eventful live shows, but on Safety in the Sea, you get a whole new taste of the bands talents.
It’s always exciting to see a vocalist who can harmonize and scream just as equally well, so you have to understand my happiness with SYT. Each song suits the consistency of the next song and also supplies a variety of sounds. One thing that did catch my ear and make me have a, “What the heck was that!?!” moment, was the synth use. Though usually used very well throughout the album, the keys hold a bit of annoyance in some of the tracks.
At one point, I found myself drifting off on the thoughts of some sort of Sci-Fi movie soundtrack!…That’s terrifying for me. Personally, I’d much rather feel like I’m listening to a solid post hardcore band than the “new tunes from the Trekie fan club.” Harsh? Oh yes, I definitely didn’t need to go there. A valid attempt at comic relief? Most definitely! To see my reason for this, check out track number 5. It’s a great song really! I just think the chorus is a little smothered in the synths. On a more serious note, I believe it’s definitely worth it to speak on the bands high points as well.
Track 6, Drifting, keeps ringing in my ears as the definite standout of the album for me. I think it represents the heavier sound on the album very well and also ventures into the realm of catchy and sing along worthy with it’s chorus, “When I walk into a room full of fire/Naturally I wanna burn/ Such a human desire.”…I found my mother humming it. That speaks volumes!
On to the last song of the album, “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” I felt the need to take time to write about this song just because it made me think A LOT. Now this is a tricky one for me. In all honesty, I didn’t really get the basis of the song or the “la la las” that chorus it out. I did get that it’s good to rock back and forth to; but that’s about it. I wish it would have been a bit stronger seeing as it is the closing song, but having the ability to make me want to rock back and forth is important as well…probably not as important as musical integrity, but important one way or another!
To sum it up, this is another one of those “solid” albums. You’d always have to imagine hundreds of people could think it was the most amazing creation ever, and the next city over, another few hundreds could think it was the epitome of garbage. Either way, it has some great tracks on it that also shine in lyricy and depth. I will say I hope to see better synth use in the future as well as more original riffs, but in all, solid work SYT.
Standouts: Drifting, Hand in Hand
6.5/10
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