Still Remains - The Serpent
Roadrunner Records

file under metalcore

Patrick: Still Remains hails from Grand Rapids (Michigan, USA) and knew to impress with their previous releases ‘If Love Was Born To Die’ (2004) and their first full-length cd ‘Of Love And Lunacy’ (2005); even so much that record company Roadrunner abundantly promoted them a lot. Can Still Remains live up to the high expectations at their new cd?

At ‘The Serpent’ the band follows the musical direction taken on the earlier releases; intense, melodic and accessible metal core loaded with emo-like refrains and a huge amount of keyboards. The band is not decreasing into un unthinkingly repetition but has adjusted several minor things, which make ‘The Serpent’ turn out more approachable than ‘Of Love And Lunacy’. ‘The Wax Walls Of An Empty Room’, ‘Anemia In Your Sheets’ (especially the First part) and ‘Dropped From Your Sheets’ may seem similar to previous songs but tracks as ‘Stay Captive’, ‘Maria’ and ‘Dancing With The Enemy’ let you hear an opener sound. Vocalist T.J Miller is responsible for this; his vocals have a larger reach than before and because he leaves out the bursting more and more, the total males an opener, more placid impression. His power is in the contrast between his shrieking and the sweet refrains and that distinction is less sharp at ‘The Serpent’. Next to that, the keyboards have been put in the forefront even more and the band has taken an easier approach when it comes to heavy riffs and has chosen for a more melodic approach.

‘The Serpent’ has become a nice album, which is in the line of ‘Of Love And Lunacy’, although it has gained on melody and has lost on aggression, but it still sounds as Still Remains.

Rating: 80/100 (details)

http://www.stillremains.com