Story of the Year
Tear Me to Pieces

In recent years, Story Of The Year has demonstrated perseverance and an incredible passion for what they have been doing for almost thirty years now. Their youthful appearance makes them seem like newcomers, which they are not, given that in their category, they have always been a certainty and a point of reference.

We last left them six years ago when they amazed fans and industry insiders with the great success of "Wolves", an album released without a label behind it, relying solely on significant crowdfunding, realized in lightning-fast time. It took only three days to get the necessary support from fans to bring to light a project conceived just a year before. Fourteen well-packaged tracks, between melody, power, and synthesizers that slyly wink at the 1980s revival of StrangerThings (the same happened with the artwork).

Two years riding the success of the album, then the pandemic that saw them propose their previous three albums during the "Ghost Signal" live streaming, and finally back in the studio. It took years, so much so that it was thought the band had decided to find a new course. Meanwhile, their first historic multi-award-winning album "Page Avenue" received platinum certification, bassist Philip Snedd was fired from management, and Adam Russell returned in his place. The ideas found the right fit in the mind of Dan Marsala, the frontman of the St. Louis quartet, and we have arrived at the present day.

The release of "Tear Me to Pieces", on the SharpTone label, is preceded by the eponymous single released in October 2022. Right from the start, we find the classic dual soul of metalcore and the melodic singing of Dan Marsala, alternating with extreme flexibility with the scream. The band is attributed with various genres starting from screamo, which particularly characterized their early works, through punk rock or emo punk, up to metalcore. In this album, we have a sort of mashup of these genres, having to evoke them all for an overall view.

As has already happened in the past with songs like "Sidewalks", even in this case there is no lack of a very moving ballad, "Use Me", chosen as the closing. It talks about a love rejected with difficulty, made only of convenience for one of the parties, where however it is the more emotional one who gets the worst of it. Suffering and the strong desire to fight life's demons are recurring themes. "Real Life", "Can’t Save You", "Dead and Gone", and "Sorry About Me" seek forgiveness and redemption by taking refuge in the love of an indispensable counterpart. "Afterglow" and the reckless "Knives Out" ("I’m running with scissors so cut me out, playing with matches so burn me down") with their power, make it clear that one is willing to do anything to survive, even ruin their life. "Take the Ride" is the madness of a car race at full speed, convinced that there is nothing left to lose. All because of the past:

Turn out the headlights, I don’t know where I’m going

Let go the wheel and I shut my eyes

I wanna feel something before I die

I don’t know where I’m going

But I’ll take the ride

125 on the dash

City lights blur like my past

"War" uses the metaphor of inner conflict but the reference to the absurdity of war is evident and aims to be current, while "2005" is the prototype of a nostalgic pop-punk song. Each verse recalls an adolescence marked by indifference to the future and strong emotions experienced without asking too many questions, between friendship and loyalty.

As always, the songwriting is entrusted to Dan Marsala, who pours into the lyrics all the impetuosity of the emotions gathered during personal life and those spent in contact with music. The female figure by his side is always portrayed as the salvation for his rebellious soul, which never finds peace unless a hand is extended to return it to a more rational dimension.

This album confirms the band's intentions to continue offering quality music, without abandoning origins and without particular upheavals. There is so much power and also so much melody to let long-time fans breathe a sigh of relief, who feared they had lost their idols.

Ironically, the future of Story Of The Year has depended precisely on the fanbase and their desire for continuity. Where there's a will, there's a way. More than ever, this phrase is more fitting.