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| Absolutepunk |
 I have been a fan of A Skylit Drive for a couple years now. I became a fan of them about right before their Adelphia album was released. I was definitely looking forward to this album because I didn’t listen to Adelphia thoroughly until about 6 months ago. Most opinions I have heard on Adelphia were negative, and I will say that Adelphia was not up to par with She Watched The Sky or Wires And The Concept Of Breathing. So I was interested to see if Identity On Fire would kinda redeem their sound. Will I say they were successful in doing that….sure. Will I say it is their best album? Probably not.Overview: 12 songs on the album is common for A Skylit Drive, but every song is pretty heavy, and unfortunately has the same issue as a lot of albums of their genre - Sameness. Now it’s not the worst case of that I’ve heard, but it is apparent in the songs. If there was a certain part of the song, it’s the chorus. Even in their best songs, the chorus is very alike in almost every song. A lot of the songs start with something soft like synth or a guitar effect, which is cool, and then go into some sort of heavy rhythm or break down. What ASD did add this time around was chanting, something they never really did in the past, which was a cool addition to their sound. Jag once again sings higher than any man should sing with his incredibly high pitched vocals, which have not changed through three albums. His high vocals definitely gives ASD their signature sound, along with screams and growls by Brian and Cory that also really haven’t changed. The drums are great, as always. Cory is a great drummer, and he proves it in every album in my opinion. Breakdowns in this album, as always, are very creative, though a lot of them sound the same from song to song. If there is one thing really different about Identity On Fire, it is the use of synth, which is not heard as much in the other albums. Lyrically, the songs peel away from the other themes as well. The songs seem to be written for more of a live purpose as opposed to a listening purpose. Overall, if there was an older album I’d relate it to, it’s Wires. I will say the album should probably have less than 12 tracks. It seems like some of the songs were just thrown on there, which could poison a really good album. There’s nothing wrong with an album full of good songs, but it’s the album that takes that extra step that separates the good from the great....full text |
| Rocksound |
| After venturing away from mass-appeal screamo and towards an original sound with 09’s ‘Adelphia’, A Skylit Drive’s third record is indicative of a band who’ve earned themselves far more than crossover appeal. With that in mind, ‘Identity On Fire’ is bookended with two tracks that don’t really represent the album accurately; while their polished industrial production is atmospheric to some ears, the songs could be by any metalcore band, and don’t give A Skylit Drive enough credit as to how they’ve developed over time. Once these are out of the way, though, the album uncompromisingly bridges their rock, electronic and metal influences into balance. Songs like ‘Conscience Is Not A Killer’ and ‘Xo Skeleton’ show that their melodic, pop-rock side can still draw on metal signatures – they just don’t have to be recycled blastbeat breakdowns. The other upside to this is that the finished product is more accommodating to singer Michael Jagmin’s high range; it’s not at all disparate amongst the screams and gang vocals on ‘Fuck The System’ and ‘Your Mistake’. Overall, they’re doing more of what they do right – impressively technical arrangements backed up by skilled musicianship and creative vocals – and minimising their limitations by thoroughly sounding like themselves....full text |
| Thenewreview |
| A Skylit Drive—the band everyone loves to hate. Because, God forbid you’d actually like a band whose male vocalist sounds like a chick. I’m certain Michael “Jag” Jagmin got teased in school about his shrill voice and ability to hit such high notes, but in my eyes (or ears, if you will) it’s darn admirable. And look where he’s at now, in one of the biggest modern post-hardcore bands around. Throughout the band’s new album, Identity On Fire, however, they venture into pop punk/alt rock territory on numerous occasions. The singles released from this album were lukewarm at best—and that’s coming from a huge fan of A Skylit Drive. Now I’m not sure what to think. Sure, pop punk is one of my favorite genres, but when expecting one thing and getting something else, it’s easy to end up disappointed. Following the one minute and twenty-seven second long intro, “Carry The Broken”, is one of the album’s singles, “Too Little Too Late”. The aforementioned alt rock elements are instantly recognized in the verse’s build; while the singing goes on, the instruments are lowered to emphasize the vocals—typical pop music/alt rock. Even so, the chorus is freakishly catchy, and a little further in you hear Brian White’s screams which in this instance have changed for the better. More specifically, they are less generic and more characteristic. Thumbs up. It’s like the singles are coming in on assembly lines because next up on the album is “XO Skeleton”—the song that’s likely to be the inspiration for the album artwork (an X inside of an O). This song differs from the ones before it because in contrast to most of the other songs, it provides post-hardcore elements early on. It’s likely to get one’s hope up that A Skylit Drive is still sticking to the genre they belong in; but with “Conscience Is The Killer” we’re back in the alt rock swamp again. Identity On Fire suffers from a lot of back and forth because the next song, “Ex Marks The Spot”, opens with a sweet gang shout that states “This is where your heart stops” and goes right into a heavy, memorable section, thus relocating back to post-hardcore. This effectively makes every other song up until this point a vacillating journey between the two genres....full text |
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