Album Review: Escape The Fate - 'Hate Me'

It’s unsurprising that Escape The Fate would choose an album name defiant of those who oppose them, considering that a quick Google search will yield you hundreds of them. Despite that, titling your record ‘Hate Me’ brings with it the impression of arrogance. In this case, even with the use of legendary producer Howard Benson, that arrogance has no basis.

Not to be harsh, but in the most neutral way possible, there are maybe three good songs on this album. The issue lies in its unoriginality; does it bring anything new to music in 2015? Not at all. Its opener kicks off the album with a guitar segment that sounds like it could have been found on your choice of any Escape The Fate or Falling In Reverse release of the past. Its chorus vocals could be attributed to bands like Alesana without question, and its metallic guitar wars are fun, but not redeeming factors. Melodic pop rock that’s par for the course can be found on ‘Remember Every Scar’ and ‘Breaking Me Down’. Honestly, it’s a piece of cake to point out resemblances between this collection of songs and the tunes of other bands in the scene. For one, ‘Les Enfants Terribles (The Terrible Children)’ sounds like Motionless In White just released a bonus track off ‘Creatures’. It’s a good thing that noting these similarities isn’t a drinking game.

There are life lessons to be found on 'Hate Me': it has an ongoing message of empowerment, detectable in the sassy resilience of the anthemic ‘Live For Today’ and ‘Alive’. As the saying goes (alongside the A Day to Remember song), life lessons are sometimes learned the hard way. In this case, dealing with the cheesy lack of innovation that ‘Hate Me’ embodies until the very end is the price you’ll have to pay.

Having said that, ‘Get Up, Get Out’ uses screams to diversify its wild playthrough, and it’s one of the only songs you wouldn’t delete from your iTunes library on the record. ‘I Won’t Break’ harmonises cleans and uncleans in the verses in a transgressive way, and the mostly acoustic builder ‘Let Me Be’ closes the album with an authentic turnaround. The latter is genuine despite not being heavy, and its salvation is the fact that it sounds like simple expression and not a message to the guy at the back who hasn’t liked the band since he was fourteen. It’s not a song that’s Escape The Fate trying to justify their aesthetic and reputation with a heavy sound. It’s a shame the rest of the record doesn’t feel that way.

‘Hate Me’ indicates a plateau in Escape The Fate’s career; this band haven’t progressed from who they were on the last album, or the one before that. While it may be fun to arrogantly strut to in public and while it may be a comfort in times where your soul needs empowerment, it ultimately doesn’t offer anything that isn’t discoverable elsewhere. The war may once have been Escape The Fate’s, but it sure as hell isn’t any longer.

1. Just A Memory

2. Live For Today

3. Remember Every Scar

4. Breaking Me Down

5. Alive

6. Get Up, Get Out

7. Hate Me

8. Les Enfants Terribles (The Terrible Children)

9. I Won't Break

10. Let Me Be