Eyes Set To Kill – Reach

When I first listened to Reach my reaction was this: It’s okay, kind of mediocre but I really like the female vocals. I then suddenly remembered an EP I had reviewed over a year ago. I could remember some of the review I wrote for it, I could remember checking them out on MySpace and hell, I could even remember what the artwork looked like. But for the life of me, I couldn’t remember the name of the band. A week later I plugged in my ipod to add the album to it; once I scrolled down to the band to give it a listen my memory clicked. I finally remembered the EP I had reviewed that Eyes Set To Kill reminded me so much of. The EP was called When Silence Is Broken, The Night Is Torn and it was by a band called…. Eyes Set To Kill.

I silently laughed to myself. The band I was ready to compare Eyes Set To Kill to was themselves. A few minute later though, a question popped up in my head. If I couldn’t remember the name of the band that put out an EP over a year ago when I was staring right at the name, what are the chances that I’ll remember who put out Reach a year from now? Sadly, I don’t think the probabilities are all that high.

You see, just like their EP, Eyes Set To Kill have delivered an album that is both well written and rather catchy but suffers by hitting on far too many cliches. First there’s the lyrics: dark, depressing and blood soaked, filled with violent imagery like so many bands in the screamo genre today. Next comes addition of the synth keyboardist that is almost imperceptible in the mix and only really becomes apparent once or twice in the album. In fact, if I hadn’t read that a keyboardist was in the band I don’t think I would have even noticed there was one there and even when searching for one it is difficult to pick out. Then there’s the contradicting vocal styles of harsh screams and melodic vocals that really just helps cement the screamo style once again.

Despite those blaring down points, Eyes Set To Kill do have a few shining moments that push them ahead of the crowd. Similar to their EP, the vocals are the highlight and real saving grace of the album. While it is a different vocalist than When Silence Is Broken, Alexia Rodriguez keeps up the momentum with a stunning vocal delivery. Her vocals are strong, powerful and feature a beautiful reach. It is always the songs where she leads the way, like Where We Started, that shine through and you can’t help but think that if they had catered more to those vocals the album would be more memorable. As it is, the instant the male screams come in Eyes Set To Kill lose the momentum and flow that Rodriguez had previously given then. The screams are strong enough but sound like everything on Science Records and don’t have the same tone that the female vocals have. If they were to remove the screams, than the album would be that much better.

For a second time, Eyes Set To Kill have delivered an album that is well written, quite heavy and features some stunning vocals but is, in the end, still rather forgettable and generic. The fact that two of the three highlights, Young Blood Spills Tonight and Liar In The Glass, appeared on the EP doesn’t fill me with hope either. My guess is two years from now when their next full length hits the streets, I’ll hear it and it will remind me of someone – I just won’t remember who it was…