Released: Sep 13, 2011
Genre: Metalcore, Post-Hardcore, Symphonic Metal, Electronica
Label: Equal Vision (North America), Nuclear Blast (Europe), We Are Unified (Australia)
Number Of Tracks: 12
From the opening track "Mis//Understanding" to the closing title track "Understanding What We've Grown To Be", We Came As Romans deliver a great sophomore follow up to their 2009 debut "To Plant A Seed".
Understanding What We've Grown To Be
Reviewed by:
KsE909, on september 22, 2011 2 of 4 people found this review helpful
Sound: From the opening track "Mis//Understanding" to the closing title track "Understanding What We've Grown To Be", We Came As Romans deliver a great sophomore follow up to their 2009 debut "To Plant A Seed". The production was done by veteran metalcore/post-hardcore producer Joey Sturgis. Traditional in Joey Sturgis' work, the drums are loud and clean, the guitars are beefy, and the vocals are topnotch. If you are a fan of post-hardcore/metalcore than you will not be disappointed with this album. Fans of traditional metal will complain about the whiney clean vocals of Kyle Pavone, and the breakdown formula of this style of music. Which is why I do not recommend this album to fans of more traditional metal (keep listening to your Slayer albums and keep quiet for one review please). // 9
Lyrics and Singing: Guitarist Joshua Moore is the main lyricist for the band, most of the lyrics coming from his own personal struggles he had on and off the road (Joshua was hospitalized for some time and had to miss a lot of tour dates). The lyrics have a "dark to light" feel, which also flows perfectly with the tone of every song.
"Mis//Understanding" - Lyrics are stating how lost and confused he is with his life, and he struggles with the thought of whether this is the right lifestyle for him "Six years ago I married a bride, and I'm not sure she was meant to be mine."
"Everything As Planned" - He struggles with sleeping at night, wondering how life would have been if everything had gone according to plan. He begs to be told that he can love himself and others. "The one thing I wanted most was lost because of my own irresponsibility."
"What I Wish I Never Had" - He struggles with the rage and anger he has inside of him, and how he takes it out on those that do not deserve it. He wishes to rid himself of the demons that live inside of him. "These demons will never leave me, I can only find ways to not let them out. I control them, not the other way around."
"Cast The First Stone" - He strains to keep the blame away from himself and his actions, and he wonders how he looks to others. "I'll cast the first stone, like I am the last one to blame, just to break their denouncing gaze."
"The Way That We Have Been" - He knows that the relationships he had with people were not perfect, but every moment he spent with them was more than worth it. He wishes to take the first step to a new beginning. "Taking the first step is always the hardest part, when we've been digging our way down instead of digging our way out."
"A War Inside" - This is the turning point of the album, he realizes that through his struggles he listened to the devil on his shoulder, but has finally opened his ear to the angel on his shoulder. "And so I've shown you my heart, will you restore me?"
"Stay Inspired" - He begins to realize that there is more to life than keeping yourself sheltered because you are afraid of the risk of getting hurt. "There are greater rewards in coexistence."
"Just Keep Breathing" - Here he realizes that even though things can get so rough, that as long as he is still breathing it isn't as bad as it could be. "Am I still breathing? Then nothing is as bad as it seems."
"Views That Never Cease, To Keep Me From Myself" - This song references previous lyrics that Moore has written, and this song seems to be a continuance of them. Here he realizes that it is time to move on and to be better, to get past the times that he has fallen down and to pick himself up and move forward. "What is the measure of a man? Is it wading through the worst, or is the measure of a man admitting when he is defeated?"
"What My Heart Held" - This is where he acknowledges the people who have helped him through his struggles and through his difficult times. "You were always there to help me hold up this earth, every time it weighs me down."
"I Can't Make Your Decisions For You" - Here he comes to terms that sometimes you have to let others lead their own lives, that no matter how many times you try to help them, sometimes they have to help themselves to get better. "I can't make your decisions for you, I can only encourage action."
"Understanding What We've Grown To Be" - As the album comes to an end, so do his struggles. He knows that this is the reason he is alive, this is what he was meant to do, and that although he has been broken, he knows he can be made new. "Tonight, when I look into the sky, I know, this is why I am alive. So sing with me if you feel this feeling. I'm ALIVE." // 10
Impression: This album was highly anticipated, and it lived up to the anticipation. They have all grown as musicians and as song writers. This is a solid sophomore effort and the boys in WCAR should be proud of what they have created. It is a much stronger album then To Plant A Seed, and is in a sense heavier and lighter. Every song tells a little bit of the story and the journey of Joshua Moore. The most impressive songs on this album would have to be "The Way That We Have Been", "A War Inside", "Views That Never Cease, To Keep Me From Myself", and "Understanding What We've Grown To Be".
What I love most about this album is the lyrics and the drums. They are utterly mind blowing. Eric Choi has some sick chops, and he really knows how to keep it flowing. I can honestly not find anything about this album that I hate. The artwork is wonderful, the sound is clear and crisp, the vocals have good timbre, everything is pretty much flawless. Trust me, if I lost this album, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. If you are fan of the core genres, then this is the album for you. If you are a traditional metal fan, then why did you even click the link? Pick this album up, buy a shirt, see them live, do something. // 10
Understanding What We've Grown To Be
Reviewed by:
gavintaylorsyxx, on september 26, 2011 1 of 2 people found this review helpful
Sound: Overall this album is immensely entertaining, they've still got the same classic WCAR sound, but they perfected it 200%. They've lowered their tuning to Drop B, which makes it sound great. The song "Understanding What We've Grown To Be" kinda gives off the sound of "96 Quite Bitter Beings" by CKY at the beginning, but overall it is a good song. The instrumentals are great, and this is a must buy for any fan of the Post Hardcore music. // 10
Lyrics and Singing: The clean vocalist is still on top, and so is the screamer, they're still keeping everything original and not trying to change it up as much. As far as lyrics go, you have to read them in order to understand them, you can hear them, but when he screams, the deepest lyrics flow. // 10
Impression: This is great high quality music, I would definitely recommend it to anyone, especially "Mis//Understanding". // 10
doubt i will go out and buy it but i think ill listen to a few tracks online and see. thought the first album was just ok and ill think ill give this one a try
I'm impressed with the new album, but I think I liked the old one better. We Came As Romans has a unique niche in the metal genre but I think they're gonna have to make some more changes (especially to the vocals and lyrics) if they're gonna gain more popularity. The vocals are all auto-tuned (except for the screams, which sounded better in this album). The lyrics are all "positive and uplifting" though they just ramble on in circles and never seem to come to a resolve.
I think this is a fun band with a unique sound that also puts on a very good live show. However, I also think that they're stuck in a rut and need to consider some serious changes if they want to gain more popularity. If they're happy where they are at, then so be it.
I'm still trying to get the meaning.There's at least ten that I thought of.
Personally it's not even the genre and the labels that threw me off,it's the lyrics -they are horrible.With everything else I guess it's taste and preference.
HORRIBLE BAND. The clean vocals are just disgusting.. I want to punch him in the face. The lyrics are just awful and there's NOTHING exciting. Listen to the whole album.. there's no hook, nothing to remember.. just VERY similar songs one after the other.
Yeah, definitely not a 9.7 for another rather generic hardcore band CD. I liked To Plant a CD, but the whole brotherhood and peaceful thing gets really annoying about halfway through.
No one who is saying negative things about this album are providing any reasons to its quality beyond their own biased opinions. Pretty hypocritical if you ask me. First off, just because YOU think it sucks, doesn't make it a bad album. Stop being subjective and use facts in your reviews/comments so you don't sound like ignorant a holes. To those who are discounting the band all together, why are you even commenting this review? The world grows more ignorant every day. Although there is nothing ground breaking about this album. I PERSONALLY feel that it's a small but appreciated change of pace in a quickly stagnating sub-genre. At least WCAR is singing about something other than the rampant cliche lyrics that are in 75% of songs today. It's a real message that I can relate to. Sorry for the rant. It just irks me when people trash on things they barely understand.
No one who is saying negative things about this album are providing any reasons to its quality beyond their own biased opinions. Pretty hypocritical if you ask me. First off, just because YOU think it sucks, doesn't make it a bad album. Stop being subjective and use facts in your reviews/comments so you don't sound like ignorant a holes. To those who are discounting the band all together, why are you even commenting this review? The world grows more ignorant every day. Although there is nothing ground breaking about this album. I PERSONALLY feel that it's a small but appreciated change of pace in a quickly stagnating sub-genre. At least WCAR is singing about something other than the rampant cliche lyrics that are in 75% of songs today. It's a real message that I can relate to. Sorry for the rant. It just irks me when people trash on things they barely understand.
But this is just your subjective opinion, too. Personally, I think the lyrics on this album are incredibly cliche and absolutely awful. I don't claim that to be fact, though. You have to realize: If "hater" opinions are irrelevant, so is yours.
No one who is saying negative things about this album are providing any reasons to its quality beyond their own biased opinions. Pretty hypocritical if you ask me. First off, just because YOU think it sucks, doesn't make it a bad album. Stop being subjective and use facts in your reviews/comments so you don't sound like ignorant a holes. To those who are discounting the band all together, why are you even commenting this review? The world grows more ignorant every day. Although there is nothing ground breaking about this album. I PERSONALLY feel that it's a small but appreciated change of pace in a quickly stagnating sub-genre. At least WCAR is singing about something other than the rampant cliche lyrics that are in 75% of songs today. It's a real message that I can relate to. Sorry for the rant. It just irks me when people trash on things they barely understand.
I'm sorry to tell you this, but reviews/opinions/taste are per definition subjective.
Generic commercial Metalcore band with horribly stupid name (that represents the horrible music quite well, so kudos to them, I guess) #564.
I'm glad Metalcore is dying like the shit trend it is.
Not so glad that Deathcore is taking it's place, considering it's an equally as bad genre of music.
Generic commercial Metalcore band with horribly stupid name (that represents the horrible music quite well, so kudos to them, I guess) #564.
I'm glad Metalcore is dying like the shit trend it is.
Not so glad that Deathcore is taking it's place, considering it's an equally as bad genre of music.
No one who is saying negative things about this album are providing any reasons to its quality beyond their own biased opinions. Pretty hypocritical if you ask me. First off, just because YOU think it sucks, doesn't make it a bad album. Stop being subjective and use facts in your reviews/comments so you don't sound like ignorant a holes. To those who are discounting the band all together, why are you even commenting this review? The world grows more ignorant every day. Although there is nothing ground breaking about this album. I PERSONALLY feel that it's a small but appreciated change of pace in a quickly stagnating sub-genre. At least WCAR is singing about something other than the rampant cliche lyrics that are in 75% of songs today. It's a real message that I can relate to. Sorry for the rant. It just irks me when people trash on things they barely understand.
But this is just your subjective opinion, too. Personally, I think the lyrics on this album are incredibly cliche and absolutely awful. I don't claim that to be fact, though. You have to realize: If "hater" opinions are irrelevant, so is yours.
I understand that and I'm aware that reviews are subjective by nature, and mine is no exception. But my point is, if someone is going to bother to write a review, at least balance it with pros and cons like I did, instead of just trashing on something you don't like in the first place. I'm not defending WCAR, I'm just against willing ignorance. But hey, haters gonna hate right? btw this isn't aimed at you, just a general statement.
No one who is saying negative things about this album are providing any reasons to its quality beyond their own biased opinions. Pretty hypocritical if you ask me. First off, just because YOU think it sucks, doesn't make it a bad album. Stop being subjective and use facts in your reviews/comments so you don't sound like ignorant a holes. To those who are discounting the band all together, why are you even commenting this review? The world grows more ignorant every day. Although there is nothing ground breaking about this album. I PERSONALLY feel that it's a small but appreciated change of pace in a quickly stagnating sub-genre. At least WCAR is singing about something other than the rampant cliche lyrics that are in 75% of songs today. It's a real message that I can relate to. Sorry for the rant. It just irks me when people trash on things they barely understand.
But this is just your subjective opinion, too. Personally, I think the lyrics on this album are incredibly cliche and absolutely awful. I don't claim that to be fact, though. You have to realize: If "hater" opinions are irrelevant, so is yours.
I understand that and I'm aware that reviews are subjective by nature, and mine is no exception. But my point is, if someone is going to bother to write a review, at least balance it with pros and cons like I did, instead of just trashing on something you don't like in the first place. I'm not defending WCAR, I'm just against willing ignorance. But hey, haters gonna hate right? btw this isn't aimed at you, just a general statement.
agreed brotha haters gon hate, ****ing ridiculous, but yeah this def is album of the yr if u had to ask me, lyrics r amazing, wtf guys id think there wud b more WCAR fans standing up for this, y r there so many haters on them? lol but i giv this a 10 as well
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