“We’re returning to our roots on this album” is a promise that is commonly made in the music industry, but rarely is it fulfilled. For the Fallen Dreams is one of many artists that spat out this promise when the new album, Heavy Hearts, was announced. The band gathered a decent amount of hype behind these words and several fans were initially skeptical; however, unlike many artists before them, For the Fallen Dreams has remained true to its oath. Heavy Hearts, the band’s fifth studio album, is set to release on April 8 under Rise Records.
As I scan through the album track by track, I notice that the band has significantly reduced the use of clean vocals – something that was heavily criticized on past efforts. The first track, “Emerald Blue,” was released as the first single from Heavy Hearts and it doesn’t take long to get into the beef of the album. Right away, this track takes off and doesn’t look back until the album plays its final notes. A few tracks later, “Dream Eater” comes up and throws a few clean vocals to the mix. They don’t mesh well with the rest of the album, but they don’t sound too terrible. There are a few “slower” tracks, such as “Bombay” or “Endless,” yet they don’t detract from the overall intensity that Heavy Hearts delivers.
Instrumentally, this album is what you would expect from For the Fallen Dreams. There are plenty of groovy, melodic riffs that are separated by heavy chugging. The melodic riffs tend to throw me back to the band’s first album, Changes. The drumming is fast, brutal and earth-shattering; the drummer prefers speed over technicality and it doesn’t do Heavy Hearts wrong. The vocalist that was featured on Changes has returned and brought nothing but brain imploding screams with him. The vocals are spot on the entire album and never get stale. Overall, the tone and production of the album is incredible and sounds eerily similar to Changes, which is a merit.
For the Fallen Dreams made a hefty promise and didn’t disappoint when this album is compared to some previous efforts. Heavy Hearts has its fair share of generic moments, but never once does it stop being entertaining. The tracks to check out are “Lights,” “Mimic” and “Amnesia.” If you were a fan of For the Fallen Dreams in the past, or even if you’re a recent fan, be sure to check out Heavy Hearts when it drops.
