Since October - Life, Scars, Apologies

I have been following Since October ever since they released their first EP, that later was expanded to their first full length independent release entitled Gasping for Hope. Once they got signed, they took a good chunk of the songs from that independent release, and added some new tracks to make up their first major release This is My Heart. Album number three finds the band in fine form, albeit a slightly different feel. Again they recorded this with the wizardry of Travis Wyrick so the production value is as amazing as expected, but musically they seemed to have toned down just a hair.

Gone is the more intense and heavy styling, and in it's placed is a mature and polished heavy edge release - dare I say a slightly more commercial sound?

A lot of bands have made this same type of transition, such as Pillar and Thousand Foot Krutch, so while this band was a bit more aggressive sounding, they have fallen into the commercial appealing sound of such bands as Pillar, Decyfer Down, TFK, Red and the like. This is not a bad thing in and of itself, as all of those bands are quite good and gain a slightly more mass appeal between the heavy rockers and the light rockers.

Unfortunately, fans of the previous releases may feel cheated this time around. The direction musically and lyrically come off feeling a bit shallow. I enjoy the hook feeling of the opening track "The Way You Move" but the lyrics, while telling a nice story overall, tend to come off like a generic sappy boy-meets-girl track from the 80's. The track that follows, the title track, is pretty much a slightly edgy power ballad track.

Song three seems to promise a bit of redemption, with a cool opening and chunky feel throughout, and stands out as a highlight. But, that feeling is soon gone as you go into "Sober Love" which again is a power ballad with more oozing lovey-dovey lyrics. Maybe there is a bit more redemption in the next track, "Life of Mine," with it's slower dark feel and heavy drum beat intro. OK, this is another highlight for this album.

Up next is "Other Side of Me" which starts off as if it will be another power ballad, before kicking in and becoming more of a arena rock ballad. It has a small appeal, but over all has no real hook to keep you captured. "The Show" is another highlight, with the chorus feeling very reminiscent of some of the rowdier choruses found by the Galactic Cowboys. Overall the song is grittier and more energetic, but the energy is short lived as we get next into "Mend All the Pieces" - yet another rock ballad type with some nice pieces contained.

I'll stop at that, since the rest of the album tends to follow the same pattern. Overall, not a bad album, but knowing they can do (and have done) better will make this one go over not so well with long time fans, I think.