When given a chance to pick something to review I quickly went through 3 band’s MySpace sites and picked this one based on one really good song.  Even with the strength of that one song I kept expectations low when first listening to their entire EP.  We have all been there, a band blows you away with their single and then the rest of their work just does not meet your expectations.  Thankfully, low expectations really turned this disc into a shock for me.  Across 5 songs ForthAngel made me a believer.

The first song on the EP, In The End, is the first song I heard.  It instantly got me hooked.  The song starts out with some interesting synths which pave the way for a heavy riff to kick in.  By the time to vocals start you can just feel that this band has it together.  The song has a great chorus and even adds a few gutteral screams that I was not expecting.  I think that anyone who gives this band a  shot is going to be most impress by the vocals.  I’ve said in another review that a strong vocalist can make a bad band interesting.  Thankfully ForthAngel has the vocal and musical parts working in tandem which makes this so good.

The next track is the weakest and when listening to it I thought my low expectations were correct.  Alive feels very weak in comparison to the rest of the tracks.  It’s obviously trying to be very radio friendly, which is strange, because none of the other tracks give that vibe.  Thankfully the EP picks up where In The End left off.  Confidence is a little slower paced than In The End, but has no less of an effect.  The album finishes really strong with Signs of Struggle, the second best track on the EP.  The track is nice and heavy, Scott Fullers vocals soar and it has a wonderful chorus.  This album really has 2 fantastic book ends (track 1 and 5) which start and finish off the EP on a really good note.  After I was done with the last track I was really interested to hear more.

The only other item I want to touch on quickly is the lyrical content.  ForthAngel is a Christian band, which is fine, I have no problem with it.  I’m open minded and I am willing to listen to artists from any religion if their music is good.  The only real reason I bring it up is because the first track is going to come across as over zealous and some people might feel they are being preached to.  In The End is about what you think it might be, the end of the word.  The lyrical content on this track does come across as fairly judgemental and for some could sound arrogant.  It’s a great track, but I know the lyrical content is going to irk some people, so be warned.  If you don’t like Christian music that actually talks about God, you might want to take a pass.

Personally, I enjoy the lyrical content sans In The End.  They do what a lot of other Christian bands have done and that is to go heavy on the positivity.  In a world with so much negative stuff, hearing a band come across as positive is a nice change of pace.  I’ve found that listening to ForthAngel to lead me to be more positive and that’s never a bad thing.

This EP is worth a shot from anyone who likes heavy music.  There are keyboards involved here and there, but this band never gets to the point of being “Industrial Metal,” and they never go into Linkin Park territory.  The album starts and finishes with excellent tracks which are built around other strong tracks with the exception of track two, which is slightly weaker .  They have a very talented vocalist and musicians to back it up.  If this sounds mildly interesting to you, listen to it and you will like it.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that ForthAngel is around to stay.  The quicker we can get a full-length out of them, the better.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kyle I'm a self taught musician of nearly 20 years and I'm proud to say that music encompasses my life. I'm just a simple guy that loves music and who is constantly searching for new music to feed his musical vices!

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