Straight Up Random

CD Review: Following Voices by To Speak of Wolves

The Band: To Speak of Wolves

The Album: Following Voices

Stand Out Track(s): “The Traveler”

Label: Tragic Hero Records

The Review: The first track on their CD “Following Voices” is a song titled “If We Don’t, Who Will,” and the way it started off, I wasn’t quite expecting the harsh and strenuous vocals of singer Aaron Marsh. Their instrumentation doesn’t fit their vocal style for this song. The music is definitely pure rock and the song has a good rhythm, but the vocals sound completely out of place.

“The Traveler” comes on next and the tone of the song was a more suitable environment for the vocals. Half-way through the song, Marsh takes a break from screaming and builds up the suspense of the song with continuous pounding of the drums alongside saying “A beautiful thief can slip through your fingers/leave your heart in your hands and bring you to your knees/but torn and marked up by the scars o the broken/they’ll shine through a crowd like a beacon at sea” and he breaks off into to his harsh voice once again.

The next song that comes on is “The Light Stays On,” and by this point in the EP, the songs are beginning to sound the same from the lack of vocal difference, and even the instrumentation has the same beat and tone has the previous song.

“Nothing Continues To Happen” seems to be pure instrumentation but two minutes or so into the song, non-straining vocals are being used and sing “The closer we get/the further we have to run/we have been sent to reignite the sun” and then infamous screaming begins soon there after, but by that time vocals appeared I was already bored with the song and was ready to skip past it completely.

“Vultures” is the last song on the album and is more disorganized than any other of the songs. It’s heavy and fast-paced, and would definitely make an awesome mosh song if played live.

The CD doesn’t offer much of a variety vocal-wise, and even though the instrumentation is different from song to song, the vocals begin to mash after listening to the songs consecutively.