Therefore I Am - The Sound Of Human Lives

Equal Vision Records . 06/23/2009 . written by Oliver . genre: emo/ post-hardcore . format: CD

Therefore I Am is the first hardcore band whoms singer reminds me strongly to Kenny Vasoli from Person L/ The Starting Line. Isn't this strange? This boston five piece band is around since their formation in 2004. I recently heard a track from Therefore I Am of the new Vans Warped Tour compilation. Their track is called "Splinters" and it was taken from their debut record "The Sound Of Human Lives", which is the bands debut for Equal Vision records. "Splinters" is a kick-ass song, which sounds to me as if As Friends Rust, New Found Glory, Hot Water Music and Person L collaborated and wrote a song together. When I gave a very first listen to the record I was disapointed, because the record starts with a pretty hard track that does not really affects me a lot, because it is a standard hardcore tune with pretty raw vocals and edgy guitars. I was hoping for more to come and I got not disapointed again. The record awaits the listener with killer tracks. "Eleven, Seventeen" (track #2) sounds so much like Shai Hulud meets New Found Glory (but the early recordings) meets Person L. I love this track, because the driving drums and the killer-hard guitars show me once again that Hardcore is a genre that is creative and it will never fade out. I feel like listening to good music HC music from the 80's or early 90's just that the record shows a much better recording quality. I also love the fact that singer Alex Correia can sing in a pretty "normal" manner and in a pretty raw manner, that makes me definitely think of bands like Hot Water Music. I have to encourage you to listen to "My Father, The Fatalist" which has such "bombing" guitars in the back (I just needed a new word here. The term "powerful" cannot make you clear how slamming and dominant the guitars are on that track". I guess "bombing" is the right term for these killer-guitars that make this tune to a head-moshing-twister-tune. My full respect goes out to the band here. "For The Sake of Skin" (track #5) has a wonderful strong refrain, that makes me think of early New Found Glory and Further Seems Forever stuff. Listen to these driving drums. I really go crazy on this track. "It's No Wonder Why" (#6) shows a more reflective and silent side of the band. This track is full of up and downs; means: The track is getting silent and suddenly it becomes more aggressive again. I love the great effects (that got created with Alex' synthesizer) in the back. I cannot handle my emotions here! I really freak out so much, when I listen to those stunning tracks, that remind me so much to the old days, when I was a young hardcore kid, that hung around in clubs and who was dancing to Ignite, As Friends Rust and all the other good stuff. "Therefore I Am" is my personal time machine, that fullfills the gap that the early 90's has left in my heart. The title track "The Sound of Human Lives" is a instrumental song, that starts with howling guitars, that become stronger during the minutes it takes. "Big Blue" (# 9) takes 5:14 of time to show its full potential. This track is kept in a midtempo manner but to me it sounds like an 80's dance track drown into a hardcore version. I really love the disco-hi-hats in the back that bounce so well with the happy-hardcore-guitar play. Kids, this tune is a 100% smash-hit from the HC gerne. I definately like the way Alex' sings. I like his stronger voice but I love his "normal" voice, when he sounds like Kenny. "Therefore I Am" is a gigantic HC-smash-hit machine, that will astonish all you HC-kids out there! The greatest aspect about the record is not only the crystal-clear producing, to me it is the use of synthesizer, which is not to dominant on the songs. Famous designer Team We Are Synapse created a well cover artwork and Myspace site for the band. The cover booklet shows a grey face in front of an organge backround. This picture looks pretty interesting (click on the cover artwork and enlarge it).

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Rank: (5 out of 5)

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Eleven, Seventeen 03. Splinters 04. My Father, the Fatalist 05. For the Sake of Skin 06. It's No Wonder Why 07. The Sound of Human Lives 08. I Am Only an Island 09. Big Blue 10. A Face in the Clouds 11. No Face in the Crowd 12. The Art of Transparency 13. You Leave