Pierce the Veil
Collide With The Sky

In theory, Pierce The Veil present themselves as the 'screamless' (without screams, obviously) answer to the tidal wave of identical nu-metalcore bands from overseas; in practice, they come across as an unsuccessful mix of The Used and Chiodos from the Brandon Bolmer era. So, here we go with teen/horror rock melodies, which would fit well in the soundtrack of a movie like "Jennifer’s Body," to be paired with the usual salad of rebellious teen riffs, ultra-fake screams, and a good dose of keyboards. The premise is not exactly the best, and indeed, in the end, all this doesn’t fully convince, perhaps because "Collide With The Sky" is an album that isn’t necessarily bad, but feels old from the very first listen.

Even though it doesn’t start badly: "Hell Above" is a high-energy track that encourages me to dive fully into this work, but it’s a pity that the rest of the album struggles to reach similar peaks. Songs like "A Match Into Water," "The First Punch," and "Bulls In The Bronx" will have the task of making fans jump at concerts, while the choice to make "King For A Day" the lead single is very questionable, given that it is absolutely the worst song on the album, which also features a special guest appearance by Kellin Quinn from Sleeping With Sirens, who tries to play an angry Hayley Williams. Other feats can be found in the convincing "Tangled In The Great Escape" (featuring Jason Butler from Letlive) and the terrible "Hold On 'til May" (Lindsay Stamey from Oh No Fiasco). The fact is that "Collide With The Sky" loses the comparison with "Vulnerable" by The Used, just to mention an album of the same genre released at the same time and with decidedly more bullets to fire.

In summary, "Collide With The Sky" is an overproduced work and an alarming sign of the crisis that is hitting American emo rock, once supported by great bands like Chiodos, Thursday, Juliana Theory, and Silverstein, and recently left to its own devices. These are times that see the release of albums of dubious quality, with few exceptions like D.R.U.G.S. and a handful of others. And since by now the pop-punk genre (which includes heavyweights like Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, and We The Kings) is considered mainstream, it’s understandable that at the moment the American 'alternative' scene has very little to offer. Of course, we're waiting for the return of Chiodos, led anew by Craig Owens.