Escape The Fate – This War Is Ours

Escape The Fate is definitely on the cusp of something big. I had never heard their name before and so was surprised to learn that they had found a happy home on Epitaph, one of my most trusted record labels, and that This War Is Ours debuted at #35 on the Billboard 200. Not too shabby for a young post-hardcore outfit, if you ask me.

Although they’ve only been on the scene for about five years, they’ve already encountered some of the more stereotypical “rockstar” challenges with their original lead vocalist, Ronnie Radke and some precarious drug problems that led to Radke’s—shall we say—departure. This War Is Ours is the first release with new singer, Craig Mabbitt of Blessthefall fame and it’s clear that he has attempted to demonstrate his vocal diversity within the 11-track setting. He is (more or less) successful in that respect.

These days with the inbred-crossover-music genres, it’s damn near impossible to categorize a band as any one thing in particular. Technology has made music so easily accessible that musicians glean inspiration from absolutely everywhere, and Escape The Fate is no exception. While comfortably settled in the post-hardcore, screamo genre, the tracks on This War Is Ours drift between metal, hardcore, and even a mostly acoustic ballad that would turn any poppy boy band green with envy.

The title track, “This War Is Ours (The Guillotine Part 2)” is the heaviest of the bunch and starts off with a scaling metal guitar solo that leads into raw, punched up hardcore growls. At first it’s hard to believe that it is the same Mabbitt screaming bloody mayhem into the microphone and then one song later, crooning on the nauseatingly saccharine “Harder Than You Know”, but his vocals eventually seem to settle into a median pop punk pattern. Guest vocalist Josh Todd from Buckcherry lends his pipes on “10 Miles Wide” and pulls them into the alt rock arena and it’s good, but my favorite track by far is the very last Ludo-esque “It’s Just Me”. If there ever needed to be a definitive example of “infectious”, that would be it. The released singles, “The Flood” and “Something” are both fairly radio-friendly versions of mainstream post-hardcore, but they’ve helped the band gather scores of fans from all walks of life. At least, one would hope it’s the music and not Mabbitt’s uncanny semblance to Pete Wentz…

For the first release with a new singer, This War Is Ours demonstrates an amazing amount of musical aptitude, but despite being good, Escape The Fate seems to still be grappling with finding a sound of their very own to carry throughout the album from start to finish. As I said, they are on the cusp of reaching their full potential as a band, and if the rumors of their next album (much heavier, much more screaming) are true, it’s safe to say that Escape The Fate will enjoy success now and with many more albums that are sure to come.