The Deliverance – Revolation
Ah, potential. It can be as elusive as Billy Ray Cyrus’ parenting skills or as unnoticed as the one kid from high school whose name you can’t remember but you’re sure he was a virgin. Speaking of the Cyrus circus, potential and talent are two different things. Just because you have talent doesn’t mean you’ve begun to exercise your potential; that’s why it’s important to get help from others. Every Olympian needs a fat, never-has-been coach to help them recognize potential. As you might have guessed, I’m about to put on my tracksuit.
The NewReview assigned me unsigned band The Deliverance’s demo, Revolation. I gave it a few good spins and, geez, when was the last time I put on this coach’s outfit? It barely zips. Anyway, I wanted to like this band. I gave them a try. However, they have some problems to overcome. My first issue stemmed from the fact they didn’t have an order to their songs so I played the songs alphabetically. This resulted in me hearing them with no purposeful tracking. But I’m not worried about that as much as what follows.
The first real problem I’ll identify is Linkin Park piano. It’s not a problem The Deliverance use a piano. It’s a problem they use it like Linkin Park, which is no way to use such a historically significant and glorious instrument. Linkin Park piano is where a piano opens a song with a haunting melody that loops and loops and loops and won’t let it go. Regardless of how songs build, crescendo, and end, the piano melody loops continually in a “Tubular Bells” sort of way. “Better Left Off”, “Changes”, “Dramatic”, “Hollow”, “Wicked Heart”, and “You Think That You Know” all sound too much alike. That’s six of fifteen songs all suffering from Linkin Park piano. “Burn it All” almost does, but has a guitar playing the piano melody so it’s technically not Linkin Park piano.
The second problem I’ll call symphonic metalitis. Fortunately there is a cure and it is to stop emulating Nightwish. Soaring orchestral strings over metal is really good in small doses. However, the closer you get to Trans Siberian Orchestra, the further away you get from raw metal power. Violins numb the impact metal is supposed to have and, used irresponsibly, will leave everyone in the audience seated and with both eyes during a show. Symphonic metalitis was diagnosed in “Burn It All”, “Changes”, “Devil’s Night”, “Rise Against”, “Wait Is Over”, and “You Think That You Know”. Also peppered throughout the songs are synth drum sequences ala Evanescence and Linkin Park; contrary to what most tweens say, this is not a good thing. I’m also trying hard not to count the synth choir and overly dramatic stoic song intros that also appear generously.
The final problem is a tough one to address, but I’m already wearing the tracksuit and it’s zipped up into my chest hair. The vocals need a lot of work. Front man Grant Petty (not this Grant Petty) has the potential to be a great singer but he is all over the place vocally. There are times I think he’s trying to be both Matthew Sanders (M. Shadows) and Mike Patton simultaneously. He is most similar to Sanders and there are times a song will change and it sounds almost exactly like Avenged Sevenfold, post City of Evil. Petty’s voice also breaks, a lot. So much so it’s distracting in every song. Petty also has some clumsy “whoa-whoa-whoas” and some odd moments when it sounds as if he doesn’t fully control his voice.
In addition, the Auto-Tune must go; I can’t take any Gay Fish (South Park) in my metal. I don’t know if Petty has a pitch problem or not. However, the Auto-Tune is used liberally throughout the demo, even when not for a specific Cher “Do You Believe” effect, which is at least twice. Petty also plays with screaming vocals here and there, but this too makes it way through the Auto-Tune and the output is less than desirable. The best thing Petty can do for himself is to find a good voice coach, work out his problem spots, and dump the Auto-Tune.
The Deliverance’s Revolation is a demo, but a rough one. The synth effects detract from nearly every song and the lead vocals need much work. Whether The Deliverance has raw talent with untapped potential remains to be seen. Now, where did I put my New Balance running shoes?
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11 Comments
July 15th, 2010 at 11:45 pm
I liked the 3 tracks from the "album preview"…I figured after a review like that, it would sound like someone sticking a mic in their ass while taking a shit…I'll agree with one thing, having no track order would drive me nuts as well.
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Keith Anderson replied:
July 16th, 2010 at 12:37 am
I'll say this: I wrote the review weeks and weeks ago. We just published it because the band isn't quite ready with their album. Since then I've heard much worse from the unsigned band category. However, and I'll admit this is a pet peeve of mine, I really dislike Auto-Tune vocals. It's a pop trendy effect that is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Recently it's overused and overly excused by reviewers. I like to hear natural voice. Also a personal pet peeve is stuff that reminds me of Linkin Park. I think it's their specific sound I dislike (as opposed to the genre of nu metal). So take into account when a band tries to sound like them, they lose me.
I appreciate your comments. I hope this band can work on their sound and remove some of the post production effects. I would check them out again if they became a little more raw and a lot more original. I think there's talent to be harvested.
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charlie replied:
July 16th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I feel you on the auto-tune vocals. It a horrible trend and it needs to stop.
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Daryn St. Pierre replied:
July 17th, 2010 at 12:04 am
I'll admit that there was a time in my life where I was big into Linkin Park. Fortunately that's come and gone. Auto-tune has become a virus in the music industry. When it starts leaking into the rock and metal genre as a whole, I get hostile and want to throw inanimate objects. Auto-tune is a tool for compensating where a vocalist goes flat or off key on notes. When you're using it throughout entire songs, that is probably a huge red flag with "GET A VOCAL COACH" written on it.
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July 16th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
I'm not sure what the deal is with this band, but they don't seem to have it together.
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July 16th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
His vocals drive me crazy, holy crap. From the samples, I agree with the review. There's really just nothing spectacular about these guys.
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July 16th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
These guys are all over the genre map. The Nightwish sound needs to go. Auto-tune… oh lord. I will say that it has its place and that's in pop music or in hip hop or whatever. When it comes to bands like this, IT NEEDS TO GO. I can't stress this enough. If you're a band that is thinking of submitting your album to TNR for review and your album has auto-tuned vocals on it, either avoid submitting it or do away with the auto-tune and send it to us.
If there's one thing I can appreciate for bands like this, it's that fact that at least they're experimenting and they're doing so at such an early stage in their musical careers. I just wish bands like this would stop getting so wrapped up in technology and strip their sound down to the instruments in their hands. Bands like this always seem to fall flat on their face at live shows. You can only hide behind production for so long. It's almost like they start turning knobs until they completely gloss over their tracks, all while clumsily saying "what's this do?"
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July 17th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Wow… Im gonna laugh if these guys blow up. Best way to put it is the lead singer sounds like the dude from RA on crack. I do like the record though, took a bit to getting familiar with. I think this review imo is a little more accurate of how I feel about the record
http://www.releaselist.net/reviews/2010/06/30/the-deliverance-revolation-album-review-2/
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July 17th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
the tracksuit business was hilarious though
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June 19th, 2011 at 4:49 am
Well, I think you’re a bit rough on these guys. Of course all the songs need to be re-arranged, the vocals must be cleared (this guy has great potential) and the music has to be… well, equalized. Symphos, synths and drums are WAY too loud. I suppose this is normal for a demo, though. But don’t write ‘em off so fast. I’m really into this Pop Metal thing and I’m curious to see what those guys will offer in the future. I’m pretty sure it will be way better than what they offer in their first demo.
Remember Amaranthe while they were still Avalanche? They sounded exactly the same – with shitty equalizing, shitty sound, and the three vocalists were trying to outscream each other. The final product was polished and almost perfect so… let’s wait a bit more.
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June 23rd, 2011 at 11:24 am
I disagree with this review. I kind of like the symphonic orchestral piano sound they got going.. I’m a huge fan of avenged sevenfold so I’ve been searching for artist thats have that kind of sound in the vocals department.
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