End This Week With Knives

We Are So Transparent (2004)

fatbrendan

I didn't know what to think of this band at first. From what others had told me and the impression I had gotten from the name, I was expecting something really hardcore with nothing but screaming in the veins of Poison The Well. So I was a little hesitant about just up and buying this album and asked to give it a spin and boy was I surprised. This album is more along the lines of Alexisonfire, with a tintillating mixture of screaming, melodic riffs, singing, and heavy hardcore riffs. This album was recorded in Vancouver with Jesse Gander at the helm who has been keeping himself busy recording many up and coming Vancouver and area bands, and doing a bang-up job as well. This is quite possibly his best work to date.

Skies Only Wait (intro) is regrettably only just that, an intro. The simple palm muted rhythms with a lead harmonic line and talking overtop pulls you into this album, and by the time the drums start on Critics Are The Worst Poets, you're not sure what to expect. End This Week With Knives doesn't disappoint with heavy melodic guitar lines and a scream that cuts. Yeah, cuts, that's about the best word for it. When the singing actually starts, I was almost disappointed, seeing as the screams had me so enthralled in the music, and although the actual singing isn't exactly the most polished voice you've ever heard, it begins to grow on you. The last minute of this song captivates its listeners with its steady crescendo to soft fadeout ending. This Cold's intro is emo'ish in style, and the main riff grooves. However, this song seems the least polished of any song on this album, and the talking almost comes off as cheesy and misplaced. The bridge seems offcue, and could have been written with a little more thought, however the outro of the bridge is much better thought out. The intro riff to Lets End This Here will hit you as punk, but these five boys from Vancouver hit you right away with the good stuff. The beats hit you hard on this one and then they throw you to the floor with an abrupt breakdown, before slowly picking the pace back up. Awesome guitar work and harmonies. Conscience vs. Craving portrays dark images of suffocation and blood, and has the heavy hardcore riffs to accompany, but also incorporates more Thrice-like melodies without coming off as ripoffs. When Foundations Fall has a more of a rock feel, with heavy guitars and screaming. Essentially the last song on the album, Arms Akimbo, is a true testament to what these boys are attempting to do. With an anthemic groove beat and amazing guitar work with harmonies and even an anthemic vocal line (or chant as it is called in the liner notes). Just when you think the song is over, they come back and hit you with an amazing outro. This album ends like it starts, but then again, it ends entirely different than it starts. Outro is an instrumental arrangement, with acoustic guitars, drums, and a synthesizer. It's unlike anything else you'll find on this album and at times you'll think your cd player is skipping, but rest assured, it is as it should be. This is an interesting addition to this album, and I may never understand the reasoning for it, but it's a sweet ass song. Something you might expect to find on an upbeat Radiohead album or something.

This album has done something for me that no other has been able to do. I actually enjoyed the screaming more than the singing. This has never happened before and for that I truly thank End This Week With Knives. It may also sound weird, but these boys seem to be pushing their music more towards a rock feel. They do it without coming off as sounding nu-metal, or heavy alternative. If possible think, screamo rock. In other words their songs still have the feel of a screamo band with the constant change of melodies and heavy guitars and screaming, but add a twinge of rock in that alternative flavor. It's a new recipe that not too many bands are trying. However, don't expect this album to be ground breaking because of it. They have truly created a masterpiece in We Are So Transparent and have carved themselves a place among the leaders in Canadian hardcore, and the world for that matter.