Avery Avulsion

In the most simple terms, this album is exceedingly mediocre. It's cliched and makes no attempt to work outside of the box, making it plain forgettable. Abandon All Ships are an electronicore band (also known as synthcore/trancecore) -- metalcore infused with elements of electronic music -- but this album has also been described as "brostep" and "crunkcore".

Here's the first thing I have to say about this album: the screamed vocals are fucking terrible. God, they're so boring, so average, and so expressionless. This band has been criticized over their intense use of auto-tune, but I honestly prefer those vocals over the shitty shouting. The track Family Goretrait features short sections of un-tuned clean vocals which mesh well with the instrumental -- too bad they're sung by Rody Walker, and not somebody actually in the band. Rody actually makes them sound good... Guardian Angel features less screamed vocals, and unsurprisingly, it's a much more tolerable track. Hold on, Lena Katina is in this? From fucking t.A.T.u??

A lot of people dislike electronicore, but I'm a fan -- when done properly, it can be something special. This band does not do it properly. They're like a poor man's Attack Attack!, whilst simultaneously being a lot less funny. The metalcore elements of this album are so basic I think they'd be better off switching to plain electropop or crunkcore. Strange Love is pure electropop, and damn, I really like this song. Some bands just aren't destined for metalcore. It's also the song that made me listen to this album... you can guess how disappointed I was. When Dreams Become Nightmares and Heaven feature very nice little dance sections, which is the only thing I listen to these songs for.

The composition of this album is hilarious. Heavily religious songs right next to lyrics about partying and stealing your girl, bro? It's great. I'm curious as to whether or not this band is being ironic xD

In conclusion, this album is just bland. Not necessarily boring, just... there's nothing special. It's purely saved by the fact that I enjoy electropop and shitty dance-infused music.