Release Date: March 22, 2011
Reviewed by Chris Johnston
Oh, Canada. Our home and native land. Well, at least for Vancouver radio-rock outfit, Art Of Dying And Nickleback…. Ok, back to Art Of Dying. They’re certainly following in the footsteps of their previously mentioned fellow countrymen, Nickleback, by making rock music that will appeal to the general public. I find it hard to find anything about it that hasn’t been done before, though. The lyrical work is simple, which is a good thing for them. I suppose you wouldn’t want to confuse your fans. I was hoping the music would make up for the simplicity of the lyrics by maybe throwing some time signature changes and syncopated beats, or maybe some odd chord progressions even, but it’s not there. The music is easiest compared to that of Seether or Saving Abel, and vocalist Jonny Hetherington kind of sounds like that guy from Shinedown. So, as previously stated, it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. There’s no trailblazing of any sort and in this day and age, you’ve got to do something different or else you risk just falling into obscurity with all of the other “rock” bands out there.
There is some catchy material however. You’ll tap your toes to a couple tracks, namely “Get Through This,” which was featured on a WWE Pay-Per-View. But then there’s the ever-predictable ballad, unimaginatively titled “Sorry.” Starts with a slow arpeggio-type guitar intro that leads into the whole band coming in on the chorus. I had never listened to this album before writing this, but I was able to pretty much predict what was coming next in almost every song. People will like this band though, because it’s easy to listen to and doesn’t require a whole lot of attention from the listener. They call it “radio-rock” for a reason. But I assure you, there are other bands who do it far better than Art Of Dying.
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