[Review] For Today-Breaker

For Today-Breaker

Release Date:August 31, 2010

Label: Facedown Records

Straight from Sioux City, Iowa comes another musical cataclysm from For Today that is sure to leave nothing in its wake. Right off the bat, the bass booms crush my small Bose speakers. There is no mistaking, this album is made for big things. So big, in fact, I had to go listen to the rest of the album in my car just to get the full effect. This thing drops, crazy lows, insane bass booms, listening to it is like getting punched through the chest repeatedly, in the best way possible.

The album opens slow, with a 44 second track with some spoken word from frontman Mattie Montgomery. His vocals then proceed to crush your ears straight through to the fourth track, where it’s almost like the first chapter of the album is book-ended by more spoken word, leading into the opening of track 5 with more gutteral vocals, hard hitting drums, and of course, Ryan Leitru’s brilliant guitar skills. No doubt the first thing I noticed about the overall production quality was the fact that the sweeps from Ryan’s guitar, as well as just about everything else sounded so much more crisp and clear. You could tell everything had been fine tuned and toned before the release of this masterpiece.

The overall brutality of the first five tracks is almost outdone by the sheer tenacity of the next seven. Vocals change up a bit on the sixth and seventh track introducing a little less of Matties crushing lows and adding some hardcore screaming, and gang vocals which were an exciting touch. Another touch I personally really dug was the addition of, as previously mentioned, the interludes of rap preaching spoken word style kind of thing. It really was a breath of fresh air, especially in the sense that behind held under such heavy metalcore for so long, it paces things nicely. This really makes the album more listenable, as you don’t find yourself overwhelmed, you can really get lost in it. I sure as hell did.

I have to make special mention to the final track. It’s truly one of the most beautiful things to ever come out of the metalcore scene. It consists of an inspiring rap which, religious or not, probably will be found moving, fading into Mattie leading off a chorus into the final moments of the album. It’s really unbelievable.

The album is really long, more so in feel than in length, as Ekklessia was about 45 seconds longer. However, don’t get turned off by the fact that it feels long. It feels like a journey to quest through, not like a task to bust through. It’s a desirable listen, and It’s one of the VERY few albums I’m giving my coveted 5 out of 5. Long Live The King.