Album Review: Escape The Fate - Ungrateful

Escape The Fate is the latest addition to a current glut of post-hardcore bands competing for who can be the most bland. And like the others before, Ungrateful sounds like Escape The Fate take themselves just a little bit too seriously. Over-earnest lyrics, forced anger and an overwhelming desire to be seen as legit oozes out of almost every track, produced to within an inch of its life. This over-production is probably the worst offender in diluting what could have been a more interesting album. The problem with production this slick and smooth is it completely removes all the rough edges, and edginess is kind of an essential when it comes to the kind of aggression and passion attempted on Ungrateful.

The majority of Ungrateful follows a step-by-step plan. Kick off with a hardcore riff, let the vocal loose with some scream and growl, then bring the pop melody for the chorus with some overbearing synth. Add in some beats here and there, back off the guitars for a synth break, before bringing it all home with another chorus. Follow that blueprint and you have two thirds of Ungrateful. But there are some bright spots scattered throughout. Risk It All; with all its double-kick drum, palm-muted guitars and group-chanted chorus it sounds like Escape The Fate are actually having fun and it's more than a little contagious. The title track is the most stripped down and effective, with simple, powerful guitars, tight, assaulting drumming and throat-tearing vocals. But in the end, these are too few short moments of relief almost buried within the white noise of artificiality.