The Fall of Troy is composed of three teenagers from Washington state, who can not only play their instruments, but can play their instruments within the context of good songwriting. This self titled record is one filled with guitar work that holds its own even at the highest standard (I'm talking at times Botch).

The tempo varies throughout the album, but unlike many bands, they don't try to create noise simply for the sake of doing so. The tracks on this self titled debut are chalk-full of melody, harmony, and grooving rhythms. The clean vocals of singer/guitarist Thomas Erak are recorded with an interesting style that almost seems distant at times, which is consistent with the guitar driven writing. However, the vocal lines are not neglected, and the band even writes a couple songs that have catchy (almost commercial) choruses. The bass lines and screams are pumped out by Timothy Ward, who actually keeps up with his talented counterpart quite easily. The album features a lot of screaming, which trades off quite pleasantly with the clean vocals. The singing/screaming combination is becoming more and more played out, but I have absolutely no problems with the combination on this album, because the screaming is within context, not forced (as it is in 99% of cases), and the transitions are not choppy (for the best transitions of all time, see Saetia).

Honestly, I do not have many harsh criticisms of this album. The main one being the band's potential to grow in their songwriting. While high quality, it does give off an ever so slight freshman effort vibe. Part of that may be due to the fact that the band recorded the album in virtually all single takes. The second criticism is not really a problem with the band itself, but with many people who will not care for the band simply because of the genre of music they play. This genre of music is becoming overcrowded with bands, but I say assuredly, the Fall of Troy stands out. Since I was the only person in paid attendance at their first show in Los Angeles, I can say without dispute that the Fall of Troy is every bit as good live.

I enjoyed this album greatly, one of my favorites of 2003.