The Early November/ I Am The Avalanche – Split

Splits are always a dangerous thing to buy. Normally, people will pick them up for one of the two bands on it, because that’s who they like. Right there, that doubles the risk of buying a CD. Already half the songs are written off as being bad and you only have half the CD to look forward to.

At the same time, EPs are a dangerous thing to buy. They are normally the same price as a full length CD but only have half the songs on it. So it better be really good for someone to dish out their hard earned cash towards it.

But then when you get a split EP, those dangers seem to instantly double. Is the listener a fan of both bands on it? Will the small amount of songs be worth the money? Well sometimes, you gotta take the risk and buy it, and that’s what most people will do here; especially if they want to hear the first ever released songs from Vinnie Caruana’s (former Movielife singer) new band I Am The Avalanche.

So let’s look at the CD and see if it is worth it. The first two songs come from DTR‘s semi-veterans The Early November. With two EPs and a full length CD under their belts, the band already has a very sturdy and solid following. The first song is a very rough demo of Outside, a new song from upcoming three-CD album, and for their longer fans, their second song is Ever So Sweet performed live in Philly. But, not being a huge fan of anything past their first EP, the first two songs on this split don’t really make for that enjoyable a listen.

But, then we get to the two songs that make this EP really worth it – New Disaster and I Took A Beating (Acoustic) by I Am The Avalanche. Everyone was surprised and saddened when the news of The Movielife breaking up was released, but by the looks of these songs by Caruana, their loyal fans will soon be happily rewarded. The two songs sound remarkably like The Movielife, with a little less intensity; and the powerful and catchy I Took A Beating will easily become everyone’s favorite song.

So, it is a risky buy. Two bands and only two songs each, but it is worth it just to hear the new songs by I Am The Avalanche. Oh, and as an added bonus, the booklet has the lyrics for all four songs.