The Reason – Ravenna

I’ve had The Reason‘s new CD, Ravenna for a couple weeks now. I’ve listened to it one and off in between other cds, and each time I always though to myself, “hmm, this is good.” Then I finally got around to actually listening to the CD, and it has been the only CD I’ve heard over the past two days. And after haven listened to it so many times, I still agree with my initial reaction of “hmm, this is good;” in fact, it’s even better then good.

The album starts off now and soft with a dreamy melody before Adam White comes blaring in with the vocals, picking up the pace from a deep throated grumble to a full blown scream. Throughout Reclaiming The Throne they switch from screaming vocals, to melodic backing vocals and back, pulling you into the album immediately. Next comes The Joke & The Gentleman, which bares amazing resemblance to Taking Back Sunday. So from starting off with a screamo song like Underoath and then jumping into a emo song like Taking Back Sunday, you have no idea what to expect next. Well, next you get another screamo-ish song, although there is more regular singing in this track then the opener. But that’s not the point. The point is that The Reason are able to switch gears quickly, easily, and flawlessly. It’s a feat that not a lot of bands can do. These changes help make the album constantly interesting, it never gets repetitive, and they don’t try to do things that they can’t accomplish. Everything on the CD is done well. From the sing-along Subways In Pittsburgh to the acoustic Afterparty At The Actor’s Estate, each song is unique, but each song is still distinctly The Reason.

Ravenna is a album that almost anyone will enjoy. It touches on many notches in the music scale, although it does lean more to the hardcore/scremo side of things; and is a very entertaining album. With the right push, these guys could become the next household name band.