Black Veil Brides: Set The World On Fire
Album: Set The World On Fire
Artist: Black Veil Brides
Label: Lava Records
Released: June, 2011
Produced by: Josh Abraham
Reviewer: Kialynne Wood
Sites:
www.bvbarmy.com
www.facebook.com/Blackveilbrides
twitter.com/officialbvb
www.myspace.com/blackveilbrides
www.youtube.com/user/BlackVeilBridestv
www.myspace.com/blackveilbrides
Track Listing:
- New Religion
- Set The World On Fire
- Fallen Angels
- Love Isn’t Always Fair
- God Bless You
- Rebel Love Song
- Saviour
- The Legacy
- Die For You
- Ritual
- Youth and Whiskey
- Smoke and Mirrors
Black Veil Brides seem to tow the line between carbon copy and latest craze. Listening to Set The World On Fire, the skyrocketing band’s second signed release in just a year and a half, the average listener will probably hear the band’s influences clearly: Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, etc… But they might also have that awful deja vu, where some songs seem to have taken riffs from pre-existing hits to give them an “edge”.
That being said, the album is wonderfully mastered and it is great return to the roots of their genre, with the heavy metal sounds and strong guitar focus without the modern overuse of ‘screaming’ and synthesising. For such a young band, they have an excellent handle on what makes an anthem and they use multiple ideas per track, building each one up so it cannot be identified by just one aspect, each sound becoming part of something bigger. As far as anthems do go, ‘STWOF’ doesn’t seem to feature one stand out track, but each piece itself has a rock-out quality, as all rock albums should. Only “Love Isn’t Always Fair” and “Ritual” seem to get caught up in the mix for me, not particularly memorable tracks in regard to the excitement of the listening experience they create.
The most gentle of the tracks, the inspirational “Saviour”, is a mix of perfoming media that highlights the new and old in classic “metal ballad” style. The track makes the best of lead singer Andy Biersack’s husky tones in contrast to the somber, yet sweet, orchestral backing. Then, turning everything on its head, the full band tunes in with chomping guitars, screaming and a hidden anger that’s lingering below the surface. A nice mixture of genre, style and conflicting messages that creates a memorable – if not slightly generic – song. But we all love the metal ballad in the breather it gives any album, a chance to reflect and remember that even hard-rocking metalers have their soft side, and “Saviour” plays that perfect part.
Over all, Set The World On Fire is a terrific album, and an excellent second effort by Black Veil Brides. It’s accessible to fans both old and new and can be seen as a bridge between what rock used to be and what it has become today.
