Let me start my first album review by first saying that I have had mixed feelings about Black Veil Brides since I first heard them. I am not particularly fond of their first album "We Stitch These Wounds". To me they came off as Avenged Sevenfold wannabes. Their single "Knives and Pens" sounded like a lame attempt to recreate "Unholy Confessions." However, as time went on, I kept SEEING them. While I didn't necessarily like their music, I LOVED how they looked. To me it seemed like a crossing between KISS and "Shout At The Devil"-era Motley Crue. When I saw they had a new single called "Fallen Angels" I decided to check it out. To my surprise, I really liked it. It seemed that the Crue influence had creeped it's way into their music too, with the chanting of "Scream! Shout!" seemingly straight out of a Crue Song.
With their sophomore album, The Brides have really stepped up their game. With the latest addition to the band, drummer Christian Coma, the groove has been taken up to a whole new level. With "WSTW", the drums came across as trying to be fast just for the sake of being fast. While there is still plenty of speed on "STWOF", there are also more groove-oriented drums, most notably on "God Bless You". Singer Andy Biersack may not have a large range, but he gets every ounce out of it that he can. He's also a master of M. Shadows-esque screaming, which fits perfectly on songs like "The Legacy". The dual guitar attack of Jinxx and Jake Pitts reminds me of Synyster Gates/Zacky Vengeance. Bassist Ashley Purdy is the one most obviously Crue influenced, in a good way. He comes across someone who got an A+ in "Nikki Sixx 101", but isn't imitating him.
All in all, "Set The World On Fire" is a good album. It shows the significant growth of the band since their debut. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anybody who is a fan of good heavy music.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Essential Tracks:
- God Bless You
- Fallen Angels
- Youth & Whisky
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