just wait til you hear this

You don’t think the vocals are a little weak?

@ blarob

I enjoy the vocals. They're not like anything astounding or new or shocking, but they totally work for what the album is. In my opinion, anyway.

Ugh, that's definitely not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that for MOST people, harsh music of any kind is an immediate shutdown. For a minority of people, it is not.

I get what you're saying, that's just what it sounded like though lol.

I think it has to do with a lot of people not being exposed to much music outside of what's on the radio, so they just aren't accustomed to certain things if they hear it. Sometimes it can just be a matter of them not even being aware of its existence. I hadn't of heard any electronic music until I discovered Kraftwerk, deadmau5, and Orbital when I was a teenager and my mind was blown. It was foreign to me, yet it became my second favorite genre after metal.

Time Will Die is Rolo's least harsh album and a more shimmering continuation of the style on thee album before, but that one is way better. Probably the best one.

'Unsure, The Album', and not necessarily in the vein of being powerfully eclectic like a lot of albums with the 'math' tag. Moreso, Time Will Die shows mathcore band Rolo Tomassi at (supposedly) their most fragile, as they massively flaunt with emo and gothic rock influences that are abruptly transitioned into all across the album. This particular record seems to lean on what I call the 'Foo Fighters formula', wherein a band tries to be emotionally resonant by switching back and forth between melodic calmness and heavy brashness. Repeat this formula 10 times or so over and you have a full record, and lemme tell you does that formula get tedious after awhile. It doesn't help that the repetitious elements aren't exactly of the highest quality- the vocal performances from both Spences, male and female, are noticeably shallow particularly in the softer sections. There is little middle ground between their clean and screamed vocals, and it's either halfheartedly imitate Amy Lee or Greg Puciato. Even the good parts of the album, the blitzing mathcore sections, drop off about halfway through leaving almost the entire second half of the record as glorified gothic metal...and I cannot stand gothic metal.

In short, this record seems to feign complexity more than it actually presents it; the loud, melodramatic patches are taken WAY too seriously by the band and are about as corny as an After Forever record, and the more brutish mathcore elements that should bulk up the album are either too few-and-far-between to have an effect or are simply ill-conceived.

There's a neutral territory between halfbaked and overcooked, you just gotta find it.

4

Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It

Lively mathcore, melodically decent, at times (albeit briefly) experimental in a luxuriant sense. In a few jazzier moments I feel nostalgic twins for late 90's nu-jazz video game soundtracks. The heavier moments are the best aspect of their sonic architectural sensibilities, maybe because that aspect of them just seems more mature / developed overall. Kinda feels like that's where their "heart" is per-se.

My POV on bands with contrasting musical identities is that both should be distinctive or don't bother. Not everyone can be Opeth or Sigh or even Issues and do the multiple musical personalty disorder thing with finesse.

All that being said, I liked a lot more than I came in expecting. 'A Flood Of Light' is pretty solid and 'Alma Mater' carries it's various moods well without going into purely saccharine territory.

Next time these guys should bring in a jazzy horn section and alternative between happy hardcore and City Pop. That would certainly be legit in the innovation department.

6 out of 10

I didn't notice there was two vocalists. Plenty of bands have a singer that switches between singing and growling, so I just assumed. Plus I seem to remember from Rolo Tomassi music videos that there's just one vocalist, but I guess not.

Bands with female vocalists tend to focus on them almost entirely so it's not a surprise.