| Sunday, 14 June 2009 18:04 |
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Tall Ships - Voyages released on Assault Records, March 2009 www.aussaultrecords.com www.myspace.com/assaultrecords www.myspace.com/tallshipshc Voyages is the first full length of Michigans Tall Ships and the vinyl version is out now on Assault Records. This is the first time i came in contact with Tall Ships and it turned out that i find it really difficult to describe their music style as they bring together a lot of different influences and they switch between those styles. The first song "Light It Up" is the perfect introduction to the record as it shows how much variety they can bring into one single song when they mix those different elements. It starts with a slow, heavy melodie, than makes a break to driving, fast hardcore that is accentuated by kind of metal guitar works and leads to final crew vocals. The next two songs are straight modern hardcore, simple and fast. As a contrast you can find songs that start with a metal like melodie which leads through the whole song. So in a way it sometimes feels like listening to two different bands, something that i first found a little bit confusing. But the more i listen to the record, the more i start to like exactly this fact, because it makes Tall Ships sound just not predictable and with every listening you can find another aspect to it. Best songs are those in which Tall Ships succeed to combine their different styles and create some catchy melodies like in "Pouring Down" "Masking Identity" or "Voyages" which are the perfect mixture between melodie, fast parts, moments to slow down and energetic crew vocals. The lyrics are as diverse as the sound. They range from losing frienships and how hard it is to let go to the struggle of finding out who you want to be and how to face this world. With "HCP" there`s also a, lyrically, classical youthcrew song, encouraging you to show proud who you are and to stick to your ideals. Often records start with powerful songs but lose their ambitions during the next ones. It`s the opposite with Tall Ships, they manage to even step up with every song. So what you can expect is a record that won`t become boring. It`s modern Hardcore with catchy melodies and a scratchy voice plus some unexpected metal tunes. Tall Ships created their own sound and it`s really energetic and varying and definetly worth a try. |