We Came As Romans, a six-piece post-hardcore band from Detroit, Michigan, are back with their second full-length album, titled Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be. It was released in North America on September 13th. Similar to To Plant a Seed, vocal-wise, Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be is almost split right down the middle. You will hear a lot of Dave’s screams and a fair bit of the album is dedicated to Kyle singing. Although it is almost expected from a post-hardcore band, this album often lacks an instrumental kick. There are a few wow moments, but there is nothing too spectacular going on. The songs that stand out the most are What I Wished I Never Had, The Way That We Have Been, A War Inside, and Views That Never Cease, to Keep Me From Myself. What I Wished I Never Had, the third of the three songs to be released by the band, is one of the best on the album. The guitar is actually quite impressive in this song, the chorus is catchy, and it just flows very nicely. The Way That We Have Been is primarily Kyle’s show and he nails it (although he probably couldn’t live!). The guitar leads in the first half of A War Inside have a surprising melodic type feel to them. It’s a nice change from the typical post-hardcore style that is usually brought forth by We Came As Romans. Views That Never Cease, to Keep Me From Myself is, by far, my favourite track on the album. Everything about this song is nearly perfect. Upon first listen, I noticed that a major weak point with this album is that it seemed to drag on a little bit near the end. Another flaw is that the mixing could be better. Sometimes the guitar is too overpowering, and at other times, it is much too quiet. However, despite the poor mixing, the overall production of this album is great. Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be is a very solid sophomore release. The guys in We Came As Romans are not really doing anything groundbreaking with this album, but they did a good job of maintaining their sound and adding a few extras to keep their fans amused and anxious for more.
Links: Facebook
Music
