Last updated August 31st, 2023 | by steinaech | Posted in Music
The Jaws of Life, released 7 years after their previous entry, is a stark change in direction for the band. Moving away from hardcore and becoming more of a hard rock band, there are fewer screams here and a much slower pace compared to the breakneck speed of Collide With The Sky and Misadventures. Vic’s singing style is about the only thing here that makes this a Pierce The Veil album. Not to say that’s a bad thing though, this is an excellent album.
What the band has created here is a contemporary album full of 2020 “vibes”, 2000s alt-rock, and 90s grunge that culminates into something great. A sprinkle of prog rock here, some punk rock there, vibes & Lo-Fi too. There’s such a broad range of sounds here that the band managed to blend seamlessly together that the whole album feels immediately familiar while not sounding like it’s retreading previous ground.
The album opens up on the solid Death of an Executioner featuring hand drums and shakers over a blaring siren before rolling into some heavy guitar and drums with a groove-like bass behind the chorus. Pass The Nirvana is a grunge track through and through – deep bass, heavy guitar, slowed singing – brought up to a modern flare with some electronic kit sounds dispersed throughout. Pierce the Veil brings 2020s “vibes” with tracks like Even When I’m Not With You, Flawless Execution, and Resilience akin to a harder sounding Lauv complete with handclaps, electronic bass drums, and keyboards to complement the rest of the full band. Emergency Contact opens up like an alt rock track you’d hear on a The Maine album complete with a catchy chorus that’s melded back into the rest of the album with its deep bass line and hard hitting bridge. The Jaws of Life title track is something of a mashup of My Chemical Romance with its operatic structure, climbing guitars, filling drums and The Fall of Troy with its ever shifting melody and complex breakdown. The lo-fi inspired track Shared Trauma is an interesting change of pace for the album and yet it feels right at home despite having no real guitar or drums thanks to Vic’s consistent vocal delivery and bringing back in the electronic drums and keys featured in other parts of the album previously. The album finishes up on the short n’ sweet grooving surf-rock duet 12 Fractures featuring chloe moriondo. Nobody would bill Pierce the Veil as surf rockers but as they end The Jaws of Life with hand drums and shakers, the same instruments they opened with, mingled with the slower beats and electronic sounds they used expertly throughout the rest of the album you don’t even think twice about it.
The Jaws of Life is a bold and unexpected departure from Peirce The Veils’ previous work and after 7 years it’s a welcome addition to their discography. With a broad range of sounds that are brought together cohesively this album should please longtime Pierce the Veil fans because it’s just good music and the shift to a new genre should bring new fans.
The jews did 9/11
Jk bruh nicely written and I agree!