Send "The Word Alive " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 You know, I don’t really like loud music - unless I’ve been drinking. But I also only like hockey when I’m drunk, so it’s kind of a crapshoot. Not that I even drink that much, either. I have a weak stomach and when you drink everything kind of tastes like crap. I’m much more of a fast foodie. Anything that gets in the way of that is my sworn enemy.ANYWAY, yeah, I do like The Word Alive’s debut full-length, Deceiver. I might even love it and want to marry it. And this is me sober as a jaybird! Maybe my enjoyment is rooted in the fact that they kicked out the guy who created the band, which is just kind of hilarious, or that they do this neat thing with keyboards/synthesizers that seems to make even the heaviest parts old-guy-tolerable. Dusty Riach isn’t a name that sounds like much, but it is mostly because of this man's keyboard prowess that I’m not bleeding from an ear migraine right now. Well, that’s not entirely true. I also like the yelling of Tyler "Telle Smith." He was in another band that probably sounded like this, but now Smith’s in The Word Alive and his yell is like the darkest, angriest glue keeping this whole operation together. The range he displays is most apparent (and breathtaking) on “2012,” which is a total facepuncher. As it breaks down into a glitchy headbanger, Smith returns with clean vocals to knock our socks off with beautiful melody. Despite its schizophrenic and cluttered nature, "2012" succeeds in recreating the human emotion of fighting back. It’s a back and forth; it’s an uncertain future. It's a hole in the drywall. While The Word Alive are most likely similar to their peers (have I shown my ignorance enough yet?), there is definitely astounding levels of musicianship going on here; there's some prodigy shit happening for sure. Guitarists Zach Hansen and Tony Pizzuti don’t spend the whole album pummeling us, instead choosing to mix in plenty of intricate finger wizardry with the gut kicks (“Consider It Mutual” is like one of those Sour Patch Kids commercial – both naughty and nice or whatever). And although there’s a song like “You’re All I See,” which channels the terrible “soft” closers A Day To Remember love so much, Deceiver for the most part knows its place as an angry, relentless metalcore album. Smith is often singing about overcoming this and that (and maybe God stuff?), but it works within the context of an album meant to create fist pumpage. I mean, I admit that this isn’t a very informative review. I’m writing from within a vacuum here. So either it means this album is really good because I can sit through it (and have many, many times), or it means that Deceiver's some sort of watered down trash that even a pansy can take. Whichever side of the leather-studded fence you sit on is kind of irrelevant to me, because I’m definitely frolicking in a field of heart-pounding drumming and choruses that soar like rocket ships. Also in that mythical field? Trees covered in tattoos that spout jack and coke instead of sap! And that’s my time! You’ve all been…tolerant....full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| The Word Alive has certainly come a long way since ditching Craig Mabbitt. Armed with a vocalist who is more than capable of both clean and screamed vocals, a fantastic EP, and a couple years of touring under their belts, the band's debut full length "Deceiver" has all the makings of a good album, and it capitalizes on this to the fullest degree. By taking a standard post-hardcore/metalcore sound and tweaking it with some personal flairs, The Word Alive have put out an album that not only lives up to the hype it's generated, but for some might even pass it. The first thing that's obvious about "Deceiver" becomes known about 5 seconds into opener "The Hounds Of Anubis," a heavy-hitting tune that capitalizes on Telle Smith's bellowing screams to great effect. Smith is an absolute beast behind the microphone, belting out ranged screams and pristine cleans and switching between the two with efficiency and ease. The guitarists don't take a backseat though, filling the songs with creative riffs that stray far off the beaten path of the typical chugging the genre has become notorious for. A number of songs even feature some great solos, also a rarity in the genre. The drumming is standard fare for the genre, but the other aspects of the sound are so polished its easily overlooked. The synthesizers actually lend something to all the songs they're used in, instead of muddying the sound and just being an overall stupid gimmick like 95% of synth in metal today. The track "2012" features a driving synth line that weaves in and around the guitar to create a really cool sonic effect with a good pair of headphones on, and some songs even feature movements where the traditional instruments take a backseat to the electronics such as in the dubstep (wut?) influenced "Like Father, Like Son," which also happens to feature a great breakdown at the same time the dub takes center stage....full text |
| Lushbeat |
| I find myself torn with this album. Much like the absolutely and frustratingly schizophrenic nature of this particular genre – what is it, anyway? Emo-metal-core? I really don’t know – I’m having a hard time placing what it is about this particular album that I find so enticing, but at the same time, aggravating. The Word Alive’s Deceiver is, for all intents and purposes, aptly named. My first listen was on my drive home last night, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Their name had me thinking one thing (mediocre Pop-Punk/Rock a la All Time Low), what I got was something almost entirely different (we’ll get to that momentarily). Sometimes, not knowing anything about a band can be beneficial when you first hear them. I had no notion of what they looked or sounded like. My first introduction to them was based on pure sonic aesthetic. I wish I could be as pleasantly surprised as I was with this all the time. This is an almost ridiculously heavy album. I think I might have actually started laughing at just how heavy it actually is. My car, well, it’s old and the speakers aren’t so stellar. They’re good for what they are, but an album like Deceiver does it’s best to bend them to it’s will, if not put them in some sort of choke hold to force them in to submission. The overwhelming, furious quality of the vocals, how they’re layered, heightened, almost comes off as otherworldly, inhuman. Vocalist Tyler “Telle” Smith might have some pipes, but some very creative and astute production brought his Hellish growls in to the realm of the Monstrous. Coupled with the well above par guitar work of Zack Hansen (who also takes care of the clean vocals, which is might be what ultimately brings this album from “great” to “good”) and Tony Pizutti, the result is a chaotic onslaught of riffs and breakdowns o’plenty. There are some interesting electronic flourishes and additions peppered throughout Deceiver’s running time, and thankfully, none of them are terribly obvious, or worse, distracting. In fact, most instances of electronic embellishment are ably handled by keyboardist Dusty Riach. Ranging from operatic, dark metal call-outs to the more of-the-now dance breaks, I was surprised at how well most of it worked. Instead of calling attention to itself, it actually does quite a bit to enhance what is already a technically jarring set of songs. Drummer Justin Salinas and bassist Nick Urlacher hold up their ends of the deal with verve and, especially in Salinas’ case, absolute control. It was after the opening sequence of growls, screams, and riffs that I could literally feel the disappoint rise. Clean vocals. And not just clean vocals, but the overly emotive, almost too clean vocals that have become a dominating, and in my case, off-putting trend for many of today’s heavier acts. The idea, when executed properly, can be advantageous, and in the case of bands like Poison The Well, notable and absolutely integral to what they do and who they are as a band. For me, the problem lies in he night and day aspects of, not necessarily poorly executed instances of it, but of instances where the difference between the two vocal stylings are so far apart from each other that the noticeable effect is like listening to two different bands at the same time. I understand the appeal of this sort of Jekyll and Hyde persona for a band, because it allows you to play to a broader audience. But I will admit that I was absolutely fooled by how the album started. My only real complaint is that it veers severely off the tracks that it starts out on (the softer tracks really do feel like they’re from another album)....full text |
The Word Alive lyrics
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