Band: War Of Ages
Title: Fire From The Tomb
Label: Facedown Records
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
01. Intro
02. Stand Your Ground
03. Brothers In Arms
04. The Awakening
05. False Prophet
06. Only The Strong Survive
07. My Solitude
08. Battle On
09. One Day
10. Scars Of Tomorrow
11. Broken Before You
12. Second Chance
Members/Duties:
Leroy Hamp: Vocals
Steve Brown: Guitar
Johnathan Lynch: Guitar
TJ Alford: Bass
Alex Hamp: Drums
War Of Ages is a pretty household name now in the hardcore scene. The band quickly grew in popularity after releasing their debut on Strike First and has gained more attention ever since. This was due to both the musical talent as well as their commitment to the road. The band is definitely hard- working and have quickly risen the ranks to the top of Facedown’s bands. Hopefully we will see this trend continue and the band will be given more opportunities to expand their fanbase.
“Fire From The Tomb” follows the band’s explosive “Pride Of The Wicked” but the music hails from previous years. The album is a re-recording of the band’s popular debut. The band has stated that they did not feel it captured the heavy and agressive feel they wanted. While I understand the thinking behind this, the difference in song writing maturity can be heard. The songs on the disc are good but not on the same level as their sophmore release. The album starts off with a short intro and then “Stand Your Ground”. Right off the bat you can tell the songs are heavier and thicker, which in metalcore is a plus. There are small edits throughout the album with some parts added and some taken out. “The Awakening” is the one new song to be included on this disc. I’m really not sure why they chose to do this but this song stands out to me above the others. It highlights the bands writing improvements and guitarwork as well. Makes me pretty psyched to hear their new material! A fan favorite, at least in the area around where I live and have seen them is “Brothers In Arms”. The brutal breakdown along with the gang vocals does well live and sounds much better here than on the original. The rest of the album is pretty much the same ideas. The sound is better, made some wise improvements in song structure, and amped up the heaviness (distortion and detuning).
Overall Rating: While the album is well done it’s hard to really give a high rating to an album we’ve all heard before. I know they did a lot to fix up the sound and made some better writing choices but I would have preferred a new album. However for fans and for people that didn’t pick up their original definitely shell out the cash for this disc. (8/10)
Standout Tracks: “The Awakening”, “Only The Strong Survive”
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