Review: Beloved - Failure On

artist: beloved album: failure on label: solid state records released: 6/24/2003 by: eduardo moutinho It seems that something has gotten into the main water supplies of North Carolina causing its youth to band together and form melodic hardcore bands. Seriously. The state is not only known for churning out melodicore gods hopesfall, Michael Jordan, and scene mainstays Between the Buried and Me, another tar-heeled melodicore group has shown itself to the masses, Beloved. Following the mold set forth by their brethren, Beloved orchestrates passionately raw music, infused with melody. Failure On, the band's latest release, is one of those irritating records filled with moments of genius and moments of absolute blandness. Listening to this record is like eating your favorite type of hot pocket, enjoying it until you reach the uncooked and still cold center, and getting incredibly annoyed. That is the story of Failure On. The band finds its own gimmick, and exploits it to the point of redundancy. And it's an absolute shame. So what am I talking about? I'll get to that. Firstly, the album starts off wonderfully, with the strongest track, "Failure On My Lips." The song is littered with catchy little string ditties, crunchy rhythm parts, and a balance of singing and screaming. What really gets to me in this song is the fantastic end sequence; the melody is hypnotic. It is so good, worthy of listening on its own over and over. I was left very optimistic for the rest of the album. I honestly was reminded of hopesfall, and wondering if I was listening to another special band that would be taking up large chunks of my time in the future. So as I went through the next few tracks, that hope was squandered, yet my interest in the music didn't wane too much. The catchy little string ditties, crunchy rhythm parts, and singing and screaming I mentioned earlier were utilized in a really similar fashion in many of the songs. I started to think that the band came up with a lot of cool string accompaniments and hacked them together with some rhythm sequences, not minding if the songs followed the same pattern. While each song does sound different, the album seems to have nothing that stands out. The song "Allure," which strays away from the other tracks, in some respects, with its slow tempo structure, is a decent attempt at trying to throw some variety into the mix. "Death From Decay" also has an interesting sound, and is really strange, as it seems to be a three and a half minute long introduction as it builds up, builds up, builds up, and ends. Yet, these songs don't save the record from its underlying issues. The music is good, don't get me wrong. The guitars are great, with the aforementioned lead parts being quite effective. The singing is well done, if not a bit too saccharin. It's hard not to think of bands like Finch, The Used, and other groups that have the poppy, radio-friendly singing when listening to this guy croon. I find it to be good though, and welcomed, in this situation. The screaming is also well executed, and compliments the singing well. Unlike many bands in their genre, Beloved has more singing in the music than screaming. I'd say it's about 70% singing to 30% screaming, give or take 5%. The only real complaint I have with the music is with the overly simplistic drumming. I bet the drummer is much more talented than he comes across on the record, because his drumming is ordinary and sometimes a bit disappointing. On a few songs, he busts the single snare hit basic drum beats, in the style of a garage band punk drummer. And I know this guy isn't bad at all, as some songs, he manages to show signs of brilliance by doing some impressive tom work and cymbal selection. I just wish he would have attempted to make his parts more technical. In the end, Beloved left me upset with this record. Not because I thought they stunk it up and produced a record worthy of being a drink coaster, rather, they left me thinking a lot about their underutilized potential. Failure On could have been something really special, and in the end, it turned out to be an above average melodicore/post-hardcore album and nothing more. They still have plenty of time to put that potential to work, but I just don't know. This is the kind of record that can garner them a respectable fan base and propel them into the upper echelon of our scene because of its appeal to the semi-mainstream. I just hope they aren't looking for that. Are these guys worthy of being put in the same level as their Carolina brothers hopesfall? No. But are any bands close to hopesfall in terms of melodicore grandeur? I don't think so. Are these guys a good band? Yes. favorite song: “failure on my lips” rating: 85%/100% listen to beloved