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The Traditional

You Can't Rebuild Forever

Written by: BV on 24/11/2012 14:57:28

The Traditional plays a combination of emo and indie rock, with all that’s supposed to be included in those fields of music. Sadly, I find that a lot of the music on the album “You Can’t Rebuild Forever” seems quite forced, as if this isn’t really what they want to play – or should play. As I mentioned, “You Can’t Rebuild Forever” contains a lot of the elements that are “supposed” to be on an emo/indie release. Semi-grand vocals, massive guitars, power-chords and somewhat catchy hooks followed by massive riffs in each and every song. Needless to say, I don’t find this to be a very varied album. But then again, the length of the album doesn’t really leave a lot of space for some more diverse material, which in turn makes me wonder if they actually have written anything that doesn’t sound exactly the same as the material included on this album.

Anyway, this isn’t a completely negative review. As matter of fact, there are some songs on the album that I really enjoyed listening to. For example the album opener “Give Up Your Ghosts”. Stylistically this track let’s you hear everything that is to come on this album, and I do mean everything. The song starts out slowly with some spacious and haunting melodies only to be followed by a massive riff, topping it off with an ever so characteristic hook.

As I mentioned before, there are a lot of similarities throughout the album, which basically rips away any chance of surprises. And when there are no surprises on an album, it turns out to be a dull listening experience. So I guess it isn’t actually a surprise or a coincidence, that my favorite tracks on the album are also the first two tracks. And my least favorite tracks are ironically the tracks that close the album, (i.e. “The Lust, The Eyes, The Flesh“ and “The Composer, The Compromise”) for the very simple reason, that they just sound too similar to rest of the album. There are no surprises; there is nothing I haven’t already heard earlier in the album. And so I leave this album behind me, with a sense of disappointment and a tiny hope that The Traditional may do better on their next release, because they seemed to have the technical stuff down. Now all they need is variety.

Download: Give Up Your Ghosts, Growing Young, Aging Poorly
For The Fans Of: Seahaven, Balance and Composure
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 31.10.2012
Self-released