Love Equals Death – Nightmerica

If you guys read any of my other reviews, you’re sure to find two labels that will consistently get good and positive reviews. Those two labels are, of course, Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords; and it’s safe to say that I’m always excited when I get a package from either label in the mail. Even if I’ve never heard of the band before, they’re already held in a positive light simply based on the logo slapped haphazardly on the back; so that’s why I’m always so taken aback when either label releases an album that simply makes me go “meh”, and sadly, Nightmerica by Love Equals Death is one of those albums.

Now, that’s not to say that Nightmerica is a horrible album, because it’s not. There are a fair few songs on it that really stand out and are simply good. Caught In A Trap gets you throwing your first in the air with shouts of “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!“, while the gang vocals in When We Fall captures your attention completely. The Broadcast uses well known clips of George Bush making a mockery of himself asBombs Over Brooklyn kicks off the album in a distinctiveAFI way as Chon Travis’ vocals switches from Davey Havok’s moans to Nick 13’s (Tiger Army) more energetic style of singing flawlessly.

But what hurts this CD, and makes it so “meh”, are the songs in between. Lottery, Pray For Me, and Numb seem to go for a more diverse sound, a bit more experimental, and they lose the intensity that the album had coming into it. They come of lethargic and really have no hold upon the listener; and the sudden switch from high energy sing along’s, to slower, whiner songs just put the listener off guard. Oddly enough though, it’s the biggest twist, and slowest song, that really saves the album at the end: Truth Has Failed. The slow, piano driven acoustic song is a very pleasing, harmonic effort with soft vocals which succeeds in the ending the album on a high.

This isn’t a great CD, but it isn’t horrible either. Maybe, if they had left out a few songs and made it an EP rather than a LP, then Nightmerica would no longer be a “meh” record, but as it is, it is simply “meh.”