With so many sub-genre labels floating around these days, it is difficult to keep up with what title a band falls under. Fortunately, bands like North Carolina’s Alesana take matters into their own hands, creating their own category called Sweetcore. An interesting title indeed, the band’s sound can best be described as a mix of Metal, Hardcore, and Pop elements as they celebrate eleven years together in 2015. Taking their name from Aliceanna St., which is located in Baltimore, Maryland, where they first began playing, the band’s current lineup consists of Dennis Lee (unclean vocals), Shawn Milke (clean vocals, rhythm guitar, piano), Patrick Thompson (lead guitar), Jeremy Bryan (drums), Shane Crump (bass, keyboards), and Jake Campbell (lead guitar, backing clean vocals, keyboards). First debuting with 2005’s EP Try This with Your Eyes Closed, Alesana has gone on to release five studio records, including their most recent offering, Confessions. Marking their first studio record since 2011’s A Place Where the Sun Is Silent, their latest effort is the third record in their Annabel trilogy, based on the series of books entitled The Time Quintet. Marking the final chapter of the saga, Milke decided to team up with Neil Engle to handle the production of the anticipated album that hit shelves on April 21st via Revival Records.
Beginning the story is “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night” with a gloomy and compelling intro. Including church bells and other samples, the song creates an image of a haunted house and a front yard with fog rising from the grass. Then the shouted vocals and fast rhythms set in to pull the listener off the chair. Catchy and thriving, Confessions continues with “The Acolyte,” an even faster and more furious cut from the previous. Being one of the three longest songs of the album, “Comedy of Errors” includes all varieties of how vocals can be sung, including some intense backing vocals from Shawn’s sister, Melissa Milke. Powerful, sometimes more Metal or Grind Core than just Rock, Alesana keep the listener occupied with all the rhythm changes and arrangements this song includes.
“The Goddess” keeps the guitar riffs speedy with a pulling rhythm that causes adrenaline levels to rise with primarily clean vocals held throughout. A ticking and the church bells ringing in the background of the intro allows Alesana to keep up the creepiness on “Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen.” Featuring a rhythm that is perfect for head banging, combined with growled vocals, this song is letting hearts of Metal fans beat faster. Meanwhile, “The Puppeteer” goes for the throat without a single second to relax and take a breath either while the band keeps pushing, telling their tales while creating eerie and sometimes threatening atmospheres. The song is also the longest of the album with more than seven minutes running time. Highlighted by bridges that are softly sung by Melissa once again, the voice changes create an image of a real puppet show.
On the more mellow end of the spectrum, “Fatal Optimist” starts out as a pure Rock song with cleanly sung vocals, a steady rhythm, as well as a strong chorus that is loud and thriving. A catchy song that could get stuck in the listener’s head for days, only the bridge includes growled vocal parts for the perfect introduction of some rawness. Uniting a thick mix of vocals in the intro, “The Martyr” is a sing-along as Alesana split up parts between growled and heavily shouted vocals with a soft and doll-like singing in between. Simply mind-blowing, this song blasts away as the story of Confessions begins to wind down. Creating another story, “Paradox” paints more pictures in a theatrical style. With a clean intro as well as a clean chorus, “Through the Eyes of Uriel,” somehow creates the dream of children playing on a playground with the musical switches of tempo and pitch. Ending the tragic story with the ticking and ringing of a clock again before the music sets in, “Catharsis” once again creates a dark mood. A love song, as well as an ode to pain, it is a nice closing for a more than complex album.
Confessions is a strong and thriving album that includes a lot of changes, especially within the songs which make the music extremely interesting. The energy level is steady throughout the album and the listener will not have a moment to take a breath while listening to Confessions, that is how striking it plays out. This is not only because of the speed, but also all the musical elements the band packed into each song, as well as the lyrical content. Marking only their second longest record in their career, Confessions is almost an hour of pure beauty, horror, hope, and despair all mixed into one. CrypticRock gives this album 4 out of 5 stars.
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