You, the Scene Point Blank readers, are probably tired of reading about how awful metalcore is these days. But as stagnant and formulaic as the genre is, bands just keep putting out albums and apparently there is fanbase that keeps eating this shit up. But somebody has to review them, so here we are. When SPB writers, including myself, review metalcore albums they seem to fall into one of two categories:
1. Utter garbage; Across Five Aprils even earned themselves a 0/10
2. Mediocre, fairly listenable albums that aren't quite as bad, but aren't very exciting either.
Bloodlined Calligraphy is in the second category. First off, this band has the distinction of being one of the handful of female-fronted metalcore bands. And I have to give Ally French, Bloodlined Calligraphy's vocalist, some credit because she does a much better job than most men in the genre.
Another thing that sets this band apart from most of their peers is that they actually have some semblance of hardcore in their sound. I usually cringe at the "-core" suffix because most of the bands that fall under the heading just play crappy pop-metal with a new face. But Bloodlined Calligraphy has a toughguy-hardcore tinge to their sound, aesthetics, and lyrics. They keep things nice and quick, have some sparse gang vocals, and all the usual lyrical themes such as family, friends, and pride are there. So I also have to give French some credit for steering clear of the usual bullshit about bleeding roses and black hearts.
This album does have its share of cliches: the token piano intro and the token poppy track with clean vocals. Yet, to their credit, they can write some catchy songs. Hell, even the breakdowns are better than average because I can tell they put some attitude behind them. Now if they would just stop putting them at the beginning of songs. I think that is why I wasn't too optimistic about this album when I first listened to it.
Yet, at the end of the day, this is better-than-average metalcore because it actually has some attitude and inspiration. Although this album is slightly more glossed-over than Bloodlined Calligraphy's last album, They Want You Silent, it still hasn't been pro-tooled to death like so many other albums in its genre. When I put on some headphones, sat down, and gave it a fair listen, I really couldn't find much to complain about when there are so many worse bands out there. And I have to give the guitarist a point for not playing annoying harmonics every five seconds.
