A Snow Capped Romance
3/4 stars
I hate emo. Now that we got that out of the way, 36 Crazyfist's A Snow Capped Romance (Roadrunner) is a beautiful, honest and extremely emotional album.
The band has grown impressively into their sound. Their previous effort had them pegged to follow-up with a nu-metal crunch, but they have effectively redirected towards a hardcore, emotion-driven style -- and it works.
The album starts off incredibly strong with the single "At the End of August." This song is formatted the way a good portion of hardcore songs are, with a heavy guitar-driven verses full of screaming and a soft, passionate chorus.
There are other standout tracks on the album ("Destroy the Map" and "The Heart and the Shape"), but the highlight of is clearly the song "Bloodwork." Imagine Coheed and Cambria guitars and the drums of As I Lay Dying on a softer song with a unique vocal styling, and you have this song. This song is heavy enough to keep a metal fan entranced, yet has the opening lyrics "Here is your broken character/the one left of heaven" to draw in the emo kids who don't mind something a bit harder.
Overall 36 Crazyfists are on the right track to making a cohesive album. They've started by settling on a definitive sound with A Snow Capped Romance.
Reach the reporter at chelsea.ide@asu.edu.
