I remember earlier this year when Fall River was garnering their little bit of hype. I checked out their stuff and it seemed promising: A strong female vocalist atop a definitively Dillinger Escape Plan influenced backdrop, with plenty of "mathy" and/or "techy" parts. Unfortunately, here on their first full-length, Lights Out, one of these things is missing.

Fall River's Thorp debut is a regression of sorts in that they've seemingly decided to join the Botch Brigade (see: Norma Jean, the Chariot, Fear Before the March of Flames); that is, a collective of new-school metalcore acts lifting riffs and the general flow from the (should-be) legendary Seattle outfit and adding insufficient ideas of their own necessary to give it that unique flavor. Its tempo is usually in the slow-to-mid range, and even at under a half-hour the record consequently drags in points.

They are however marginally better than these contemporaries. Their songs are concise, usually hovering around the 2-to-3-minute mark. Alison Bellavance's voice is still a more than competent one that matches up with most of her male counterparts, even if she's not particularly creative in her delivery. There's also some interesting, Faith No More influenced, Life Once Lost-styled heavy bass thump moments placed around sporadically, leaving a cool pairing of Bellavance's bark and the lone bass riff at the forefront of the mix at these times. Coalesce's Sean Ingram offers guest vocals on "I'm Not a Big Fan of Parentheses (Burn Baby, Burn)," and it's a nice touch as well.

Lights Out is far less impressive than what Fall River is seemingly capable of, but they are indeed perfectly able of delivering something more original and complex come the next time around.

MP3
This Room's a Revolution

STREAM
My Heart, the Beggar
The President Has Been Kidnapped by Ninjas