Album Review: Cry Excess – Vision (Bleeding Nose Records)

Cry Excess will release their new album, Vision on the 24th March 2017 via Bleeding Nose Records.

The electronica beat that opens Vision is hardly an inspiring start. It’s quickly backed up by some bland sounding clean vocals before the metalcore side of the band comes out to play. The tempo is picked up, the guitars & drums clash & the vocals turn aggressive. It’s a short opening song & one that falls flat, the only redeeming element being a decent breakdown near the end.

Generic is what comes to mind & Mess of Me does little to change that. It’s heavy beat overlayed by effects & screaming vocals is perfectly solid, just unexciting.

Things do pick up with Survival & Down ‘n Out. The former’s punchy beat blends well with the mix of clean & dirty sounding vocals. While the latter opens with a crushing roar & breakdown before exploding into a really catchy tune.

As an album, it doesn’t hold back for even a second. It’s in your face & proud of its metalcore stance. Cry Excess do this well, better then most in a sub-genre that is sounding more & more tired as the years go by.

For the most part electronic effects are kept to a minimum but when they are prominent they do little to enhance the music instead serving as a distraction. Detroit is a slamming number that just begs to be played loudly but has this annoying echo effect that crops up on occasion. It’s so irritating that it’s all you’ll remember once the song finishes.

Unfortunately by time The Path arrives the album seems to have played its best hand. Bland, boring metal with similar effects found elsewhere. It’s lack of substance really starts to become noticeable & in album only 10 tracks long, this is a real problem.

Immortal, Lost and Alone, The Black Squad…it’s just one track after another filled with the same stuff that came before. Generic riffs? Sure. A mix of clean & dirty vocals? Why not! Breakdowns? Definitely! Odd electronic effects? By the bag load!

It stops mattering just how well Cry Excess are playing & more about how much longer the album has left.

Vision ends on a high thankfully. Chase the Sun has all the hallmarks from the start of offering something out of the norm. The opening effects have a kind of ‘Japanese culture’ sound to them & when it kicks it up a notch it’s really head-blasting stuff. It keeps this intensity up throughout & even the obligatory clean singing works really well. A strong finish to an album that is solid but lets itself down with over-reliance on effects & a lack of originality.

Vision Full Track Listing:

1. Vision
2. Mess of Me
3. Survival
4. Down ‘n Out
5. Detroit
6. The Path
7. Immortal
8. Lost and Alone
9. The Black Squad
10. Chase the Sun

You can pre-order Vision on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Deezer & Spotify. You can find out more about the band over on Facebook & check out Bleeding Nose Records on YouTube.