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Post-hardcore is a most ambiguous genre these days. It began as the term to describe its grandfathers in Fugazi and, as most musical style names do, tended to degrade, eventually describing a plethora of weak, whiny rock acts. And even now, there's further confusion with it sometimes being used to label metal/hardcore bands with the slightest lick of angularity or otherwise (I've seen Botch labelled the term, and that's just weird). But with Versus the Mirror's Home, I think a band has finally come along that sort of makes sense to throw under both the metalcore and post-hardcore headings.

The Tucson, AZ natives are definitely beginning to shed the obvious comparisons of their mates in state the Bled, forging a newer territory that often embraces much more melodic and sometimes post-rock referencing guitars. The band recorded Home without a clip of distortion and that's likely what gives the album such a light, easy hold to grasp onto (as well as the crisp production from Bob Hoag [appropriately accompanied by some glossy liner notes]). And as far as further comparisons go, whatever honest-to-God musical creativity Underoath had on their polarizing effort They're Only Chasing Safety is brought to full fruition on Home by VTM in this sense.

However, rest assured David Siebold hasn't lost a trace of his intensity; he's still screaming his voice to shreds atop the band's compositions. Backup vocals are completely absent from the recordings, which, while does hurt versatility in that area, presents a constant juxtaposition between the vocals and music. Hearing the soft, atmospheric plucks of "Great White Zombie" and minor piano use in "Life as a Criminal" offer brief interludes between Siebold's onslaught is a flip-flop the band takes on as their own. "Birthed by Architecture" even has this riff that could basically be described as playful. "The Sound Asleep" is a dark, electronica-based mid-album segue that further proves the Underoath comparisons. The title track is another instrumental, even moodier and full of texture that's more Godspeed than anything. Luckily, hooks are still aplenty, most especially in the first half with tracks like the aforementioned "Architecture" and "Smoke It to the Rope."

Home is a considerable step up for Versus the Mirror, showcasing a band seemingly skipping over most silly trends and instead embracing some relatively fresh ideas. What the listener gets is a plate full of unexpected tastes instead of the same ingredients the recipe would usually call for.

STREAM
Birthed by Architecture
Barracuda Capital of the World
Life as a Criminal



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    Posted by societyischaos on 2007-01-19 12:51:27
    My Score:

    awww this fuckin sucks they broke up =[ Im so glad I got to see them live though. This album fuckin owns.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 7, 2006 at 3:42 PM (EDT)

    The "no distortion" thing came straight from AP. Read the blurb about this band in April's "Bands You Need To Know" issue. The guitarist says, "The drums are huge, and the guitars have a natural heaviness to them - no distortion was used - while the vocals and the bass guitar provide a huge power to the sound."

    He's obviously talking about no distortion outside of the natural amp distortion. Either that, or he's an idiot.

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 4, 2006 at 10:14 PM (EDT)
    My Score:

    this band fucking sucks, fuck this faggot shit

    Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 4, 2006 at 2:26 PM (EDT)

    album fucking rules.

    Posted by Icapped2pac on 2006-05-03 19:25:51

    If you live at home with your parents and have no job, then yes, I am serious.

    If you have a job and a place of your own and just happened to be on the site with nothing better to do than be the first to post comments on more than one review (a remarkable task considering the amount of traffic this site gets), then no, I am not.

    Either way, I saw your parents wrapping up food in napkins and sticking it in your mom's purse. It's not right to steal from Jesus.

    Posted by danperrone on 2006-05-02 23:53:56

    what in the world

    are ya being serious my friend

    Posted by Icapped2pac on 2006-05-02 18:07:47

    I'll be checking this out shortly, mostly due to the Bled comparison. I've never heard of them before this, but I guess that's my loss.

    Also, Mr. Dan Perrone, please get a job or some other activity than being the first one to post on so many reviews. Your parents are getting sick of you being around the house all the damn time. They told me at the potluck dinner at church.

    Posted by Infrarecon on 2006-05-02 15:11:17

    I don't know can't realy get into this, kind of boring; at least what little I've heard. I might get some more tracks.

    Posted by Inspection12e on 2006-05-02 14:05:09
    My Score:

    I absolutely love this record. 9/10

    Posted by OverDefined on 2006-05-02 10:11:38

    I don't get this whole "no distortion" thing on this record. If you take a tube amp and turn it up it gets distorted. Distortion is a something you find on solid state amps, on tube amps its called gain. Basically, what I'm saying is that yeah, there's no fake distortion on this, but when you crank a tube amp up all the way, you get natural distortion.

    The guitars do sound good, but the gain/distortion sound is an amp on overdrive. To say there's no distortion on this record is just wrong. If you turn a badass tube amp up to 10 (or 11) it will have distortion.

    Posted by shot_in_the_dark on 2006-05-02 01:40:22
    My Score:

    wow. very solid effort by a very young band. these guys have some good ideas, great songs, and are lucky enough to work with a label as solid as equal vision. deffinitely off in the right direction. best songs are "birthed by architecture", "out of context", and the rerecord of "smoke it to the rope". I also have grown fond of the slow yet screaching "great white zombie". cant wait to see what the kids do once they get ahold of this.

    Posted by aubin on 2006-05-02 00:20:54
    My Score:

    Really good stuff.

    Posted by danperrone on 2006-05-02 00:18:18

    yup

    a breath of fresh air for metalcore

    a tad monotonous, but whatev

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