Album Review: Story Of The Year – The Constant

American Post-Hardcore rockers 4th Album arrived this week.

Story Of The Year – The Constant

RockOSaurus Says:

Story Of The Year return with more streamlined sound for the rock masses which will most definitely cross into popular consciousness if given the opportunity. These Post-Hardcore boys have refined, not overplayed their riffing and concentrated on creating mammoth chorus’s destined for live singalongs. This is especially true on album started The Children Sing (complete with singing children no less) and The Dream Is Over.As a Pop rock album, The Constant is spectacular. Driving rhythmn guitars, ravenous fist pump vocals and those inescapable chorus’s.

As a Rock album it suffers suprisingly…from too many midtempo vocal melodies with the guitars playing fifth fiddle. As soon as a catchy razor-edged riff arrives it vanishes behind the mic without a fight (Exhibit A: The Ghost Of You And I). To The Burial bucks the trend with some thumping drumming and riffmongering of the highest order.  Beyond this the next time they really snarl and bear their teeth with some thrashy punk guitars is on Won Threw Ate. By this time the Rock and Roll spirit has drunk the bar dry and gone home to sleep off the hangover.

The Story of this Year is that The Constant is packed with fine tunes which will have you singing your heart out for some time to come!

Mr Flowers Says:

More American power-pop balladry from Story Of The Year. The album starts with “The Children Sing”, which mixes a children’s choir in with all the power-chords resulting in something that is just creepy. A few more songs in and it won’t be long before that whiny emo singing gets on your tits and you have to start looking around the flat for things to cut yourself with to make it stop.

“To the Burial” is one of the stronger songs on the album, whose pacey metal chord progression and jumpy drumming at least varies the timbre of the album. And “Eye for an Eye” ends the album on a satisfying scream-out, but by that time you’d probably have realised many of the songs on the disc are a unimaginative generic fare and, to top it off, you’re now bleeding all over the sofa.

RockOSaurus: 7/10

MrFlowers: 5/10

DoesItRock Overall Score: 6

Listen to Story Of The Year – The Constant now on Spotify!