Band: The Miracle Of You
Title: Sound And Shape
Label: Hotfoot Records
Release Date: 8/22/06
Review By: Josh IndieVision
Tracklisting:
01. Some Will Fly
02. The Request
03. The Memory Of Running
04. A Chord In Brunswick
05. I’m All In
06. Field Notes
Members/Duties:
Sri Rao: Guitar
Brandon Luibl: Bass
Chad Luibl: Guitar
Dave Kelly: Vocals
Matt Castoral: Drums
Mauricio Sesma: Kiki
The Miracle Of You is a very young band. The band met for the first time in January of 2006 in New Brunswick, NJ after having been friends for years. Obviously they moved quickly after coming together, seeing as they have already released a debut EP. Yes, inside of a year the band was picked up by the small indie label, Hotfoot Records, who quickly released the band’s first release. The band’s statement of purpose can be seen clearly at their Myspace, where it states, “God has been the driving force in our motivation and love for music”, which is certainly the right place to begin.
“Some Will Fly” opens up with a spoken intro from a scene in “Friday Night Lights”. In it the coach, played by Billy Bob Thornton, gives a speech to the team about how they need to not let friends down. The rest of the track is an instrumental piece used basically as an intro to the rest of the EP. “The Request” blasts off and is begun vocally with a chanted gang vocal, “For though we fall. We will rise again!” Interestingly the first minute of this song presents 4 different vocal approaches. The first was the gang vocal, followed by a Dan Weyandt-esqe growl, then clean signing, and then a spoken word approach. It’s a lot to take, but ends up flowing well. They speed it up as well to keep those 2-steppers occupied often. The track wraps up with a quietly picked guitar part, which builds into an epic type ending, reminiscent of the way This Runs Through used to play. “Field Notes” wraps off the album with a chugging guitar pace which is offset for a bit with more of those atmospheric background tones. Those tones take over the track maybe a minute in and really give a completely different vibe. I think the band needs to work a bit harder in blending their many sounds together into one cohesive piece.
TMOY’s music approach is fairly typical metalcore, though the metal tends to be less present. They used a good amount of 2-step hardcore beats and breakdown parts. Actually, they tend to have more melodious parts than other metalcore acts like As I Lay Dying or Unearth. The guitar work, during the non-hardcore moments, reminds me of Floodgate Records type artists with their atmospheric sounds.
Standout Tracks: “The Memory Of Running”, “Field Notes”
Overall Rating: The hardest part for me to enjoy was the constant changing of vocal styles. Overall “Sound And Shape” is an enjoyable debut that shows off the band’s potential for growth. The band could use some more strict guidelines for songs to keep them flowing smoothly at all times. Some parts on the album are stellar but some could be dropped. Personally, I would drop the spoken word vocals and either exchange it with singing or keep the vocals hard. However, overall it’s definitely an album that can be listened to more than once and is worth checking out if you’re a fan of metalcore. Even more so, if you’re a fan of metalcore who is looking for something a bit different from the norm.
Individual Ratings:
Marketability: Where they are at right now, they certainly wont be overtaking the metalcore world, but with constant touring and some maturing in song writing, they could make their mark. There currently are too many similarities to set them apart on the whole.
Production: The production is alright for a debut. It’s not bad, but also not great. There were various minor weaknesses that I could hear throughout, but overall the disc is still enjoyable.
Similar To: Haste The Day, ALove For Enemies, Your Eyes My Dreams
Myspace
Purevolume
Hotfoot Records
Buy: RevHQ