The Miracle

Not Just Words (2006)

Meg Reinecker

With hardcore bands emerging from the United States constantly, it's really refreshing to see a band from Italy step up to play modern hardcore with ease. The Miracle aren't playing anything you haven't heard if you're a fan of Verse, Champion, and Comeback Kid, but they are playing at a level that will make listening enjoyable.

The first noteworthy aspect about the band's full-length Not Just Words is that nearly every track involves unexpected tempo changes. The album isn't predictable and certainly isn't consistent in the negative sense of the word. You might think you have them pegged one minute, but the next they'll be drumming to a different beat or the guitars will be racing in a different direction.

More specifically, this aspect comes into play with tracks like "You Lost My Trust," which stands out early with its slight similiarity to the beginning of Bane's "Speechless." However, the album's title track is the most memorable song here. It begins with slow guitar work that gradually (if you hate anything loosely labeled "emo" you might explode) builds in intensity (think a heavier version of "Reset" from Set Your Goals) and ends up being one of the album's faster, more aggressive tracks. Fans of a more "tough" style of hardcore shouldn't be completely disappointed with the Miracle due to the track "What Belongs to Me," despite the fact that the vocals end up sounding more like Comeback Kid than ever.

Before you think you have the band labeled as derivative, they'll throw you a curveball with the presence of the piano-only, instrumental track "The Silver Note." It doesn't seem like the Miracle are trying to bend genres by any means, but the fact that they can substitute the sounds of a piano instead of a huge breakdown exhibits the band's versatility and is a treat for anyone whose listening habits go beyond hardcore alone.

Simply put, the Miracle have created a refreshing peice of hardcore with Not Just Words. If the band manages to sound this solid after only having formed in 2004, good things should be expected.