Daydream Society - Fervor
1. Mysteries from a Newly Repaired Heart
What a gay song title. Some minimal guitar and ambience gets interrupted by a throbbing synthesizer. I guess that's a metaphor for your penis or something. Some dreamy synths come in and they really improve the track, which was kind of flat up until this point where it got a little more dense. After a while it gets to be a bit tired and wanders around for a while. This could have easily been a three minute track. 3/10
2. Daring to Deceive You
Drony distorted guitars (? could be synths) open up and there's a little lead that comes over it. I'd like the lead a bit more if you added more layers to it, it seems a little one dimensional with the single wahhing synth over it. The transition of the themes work really well and saves the track imo. The oscillating outro is really cool. 7/10
3. Fate or Fiction Pt. 1: Light Pillars
The midi instruments on this track are really plastic and sterile, and not in a good way. Once you get past the build up, it's not so bad once the sounds are all layered and dense, but that build up just takes too long. Take a chance and drop the listener into the full product that transitions into something else instead of relying on the buildup to make up your whole song. That'd make it a lot better imo. 4/10
4. Fervor
Great textures in the beginning that lead to a big crescendo like all the other songs. Since I like these metallic, crystally sounds quite a bit, I don't mind the long buildup on this one. The guitar melody outro is really nice, too. Best track on the record as far as I'm concerned. 8/10
5. Waiting Game
Some rougher, crushed synthesizers to kick things off. Finally, something a little more exciting (well, so far), which is what this album needs at this point. You'll never guess, guys, this song is a big crescendo that includes filtered synths and a distorted guitar melody. And a drony synth outro that's quite beautiful. I'll go with 6/10 for this one. It would be higher if you didn't milk that structure for the other part of the album.
6. Fate or Fiction Pt. 2: Snow Drifts
This one starts off with some nice layers. A little heavier and bends into some post rock oriented guitar that's pretty great. The song carries on like this, running through some variations occasionally. There was a really cool rumbling bass that I was going to comment on, but it turned out to be me hearing a plane outside. 7/10
7. Level-Headed
Hilarious song title. Warbly synth intro and some a pulsing rhymth kicks off the song. That higher pitch lead is pretty cheesy, the darker synth at the end carries it nicely though. What a surprise, another drony outro. 5/10
8. Agony and Atrophy
Nice intro, and the lead that runs over it for the bulk of the song is exciting and full of changeups. This song has a lot of cool and diverse layers, makes it one of the standouts on the album. 8/10
9. Fate or Fiction Pt. 3: The Archeologist
Yup. Another song. Pleasant sounds, but not much to take note of. 4/10
10. The Best Dream of Your Life
The drone and the overtones on this intros are really nice. The lead melody is, just there I guess, but the song opens up to textures that are just as nice as the synths that opened the song. Solid and gorgeous ending, and really the only track that made me think of love. 7/10
Final Verdict: ffs dude, try out some different structures, because this album comes off as really cookie cutter cutter and lazy in that aspect. I think that a lot of these tracks work well on their own, but in the context of the album it's very repetitive. There are definitely some really good moments like on Agony and Atrophy, the title track, and the closer, and there are a lot of awesome textures. On the other hand, there are just as many moments where I'm waiting for the song to end and uninspired textures. The bulk of the album is simply down the middle for me, nothing awful, but nothing too great either. I'll give it a 2/10 or as the system puts it, sh
it.