VOLATILE

Although there are certainly artists of this style that manage to find a great balance and depth in their music, it feels as if the trendier bands of progressive metal are really slipping. As part of an unfortunate category of shallow technical metal bands that (in my opinion) includes such acts as Protest The Hero, a particular scene attempts to cross the more progressive and intricate sensibilities of prog metal, and attempt to re-cater it to a younger middle-class audience. This appears to be the mission statement of US technical post-hardcore act A Hero A Fake. Throughout this debut album's forty minute length, the listener is assaulted with an unrelenting cascade of tired breakdowns, pathetic attempts at brutality, and plenty of sappy melodic moments that will like they wouldn't be out of place on a mix CD in some thirteen year old girl's bedroom. All of these painfully bad flaws are made all the more of a shame when it's also clearly evident that while the band may put their elements together horribly, they are also very talented musicians.

Each song is fairly dreadful, although it is not so much a consistent trait as one that is just very pronounced in certain sections. Each song will generally amount to a cycle between melodic hardcore riffs, highly technical fills and some of the most laughably bad breakdowns that such a skilled band has ever played. 'Volatile' becomes such a mixed bag from this; horrible sections are then followed by surprisingly strong jazz or melodic sections. Undoubtedly, A Hero A Fake has potential, but the nicer sections are certainly not worth wading through the garbage for, especially considering there have been so many bands in the past who have done the same thing, and done a much better job of it.

With such songs as 'F-16' and 'Superwoman' revolving around such thought provoking topics as flying around in a fighter jet and comic book superheroes respectively, the lyrics shamefully define the peppy, carefree attitude and party-hard mentality that gives many post-hardcore bands such criticism. The songwriting here (as well as the messages behind it) is simply shallow. However, the guitar work here shows a world of potential amidst the musical poverty, and while 'Volatile' has been an anything-but-recommendable listen, A Hero A Fake is not completely without its worth.