Written
by David Shouse, posted by blog admin
The
sophomore album from the New York City outfit Rejectionist Front Evolve is an
aptly titled twelve song collection that shows the development of the band’s
musical message keeping pace with its intelligent lyrical subject matter. Produced
by World2Be Entertainment, the four members bring obvious passion and expertise
to what they do with a dramatic edge tingeing the songs that’s never
overplayed. The band has shared stages with a number of important acts, iconic
and otherwise, including Joan Baez and Immortal Technique, and for good reason –
the same spark setting apart those aforementioned acts is found in their music
and casts a bright light for every listener to appreciate. Michael Perlman’s
lead vocals and lyrics are more powerful than ever before and the harmonies
often making their way into music courtesy of guitarist Lincoln Prout and
bassist Tony Tino sweeten the hard rock mix fueling much of Evolve.
“Ride”,
the album opener, has an exultant edge Perlman’s voice matches from the first
and the rhythm section attack from bassist Tino and drummer Dave Dawson make an
impressive impact. It’s an excellent choice for the album opener and the
dueling voices vying for listener’s attention are compelling listening, but it’s
the way Rejectionist Front manipulates dynamics that leaves the biggest mark on
the band’s audience. Evolve’s second track “All I Am” balances a hard swing
with some head-down passages of tight riffing to excellent effect. The presence
of harmony vocals aren’t as strong here as the first cut, but the band’s
songwriting places it just right in the context of this tune. The chorus for “Savior”
is a great example of one of the band’s greatest songwriting strength and the
transitions between verse and chorus are adeptly handled without a stumble.
Naturally, this is a studio recording, but Rejectionist Front sounds like a
remarkably live unit despite the obvious overdubs and production work enhancing
the performance. There’s a strongly engaging quality surrounding this song that
makes it one of Evolve’s best.
“Sign”
has a hard-hitting whiplash riff that Lincoln Prout layers with some colorful
lead guitar flourishes. This is another emphatic number on an album full of
them, but the clenched fist tightness of this tune is notable on a release that
never takes its foot off the gas pedal. “Innocent” is a great song further
improved by the band incorporating some voice over passages. In the hands of a
lesser act, these kind of moves often come off as pretentious twaddle, but
Rejectionist Front understands how to make judicious use of such effects. “Flush”
has proven to be an effective single from the album with an accompanying video
and even a cursory hearing of the song bears out why the band keyed on this
song’s potential for mass appeal. On a whole, Rejectionist Front does an
outstanding job of crafting accessible yet highly intelligent near prog metal
sans keyboards or synthesizers. There’s a more raucous, sometimes bluesy, edge
twisting the band’s music a little more than you’d hear from similar acts and
it’s one of the distinctive qualities that helps position Evolve as one of the
best guitar-driven albums in recent memory.
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