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Gwen Stacy

The Life I Know (2008)
Ferret Records

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: SloaneDaley
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on March 7th 2008

Stan Lee’s lengthy run of Amazing Spider-Man, even when Peter Parker got into sticky situations, was marked by a certain degree of campy fun. Gerry Conway had just started writing for the title when he decided to kill off the character of Gwen Stacy, which at the time was seen as quite a shocking move to readers. I find it quite interesting that a metalcore band would name themselves after such a character seeing that metalcore is often marked by decidedly sexist sentiments and the character of Gwen Stacy is often seen as starting a trend where harsh violence against women became a device used to further plot. The key difference between the band and their namesake is that where the comic book character may have laid some new ground, the band seems to be recycling the same tired genre staples aside from a few moments.

As with a number of bands under a similar persuasion, vocal duties are split between growling and cleanly sung. In doing so, one of the band's main weaknesses is brought into focus. The effortless confidence required for a convincing guttural growl just isn’t there and when put up against the melodic backup vocals (which are actually pulled off quite well), that fact is further emphasized.

On songs like “The Path to Certainty,” Gwen Stacy shows some real ability with an undeniably catchy chorus and strong dynamics that never wallow too long in a breakdown or letting the main riff grow too stale. Moments like this end up being few and far between, where aside from occasionally memorable riffs (“If We Live Right, We Can’t Die Wrong”) and the slight electronic flourishes in “Sleeping in the Train Yard,” the album gets rather monotonous. Conversely, one consistently solid aspect of the album is the drumming, which has a considerable amount of variety but whose recording could have been given more of a punch.

The members of Gwen Stacy belong to a Jewish sect you may have heard of called Christianity. Thusly, the lyrical content of the album tends to gravitate toward upliftment via that particular form of preaching. So if that doesn’t feature in your particular form of being brootal or croosh or whatever the kids are into these days you might want to find another soundtrack.

Ultimately, while certainly not the worst the genre has to offer, the most interesting thing about The Life I Know is the band’s name who made it.

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jonahTM4M (November 18, 2008)

i don't agree with this at all
the overall album isn't amazing but it's got some kickass songs on it
the fear in your eyes is amazing
the 3rd the second guitarist does in the bridge is genius
i'd say about half the songs are good and the rest are mediocre
definitey worth more then what u gave it

sugarfull (March 11, 2008)

that album cover alone should send up red flags.

mcpike (March 11, 2008)

These guys made a big enough splash that Ferret signed them up for their first release? Seriously? They are from Indy I guess and yet I live here and have never heard of them. Ive heard of others around that still deserve to be signed to someone like Ferret (such as In The Face of War) but this has me confused.

agreed.

DrGunn (March 10, 2008)

score is for allyroy's revenge.

moos (March 10, 2008)

ALL on the radio? now that's a good thing,

score is for ALL.

SloaneDaley (March 10, 2008)

I wonder sometimes when people say the melodic parts are better than the useless screaming. Perhaps that's because they like the shitty New Found Glory/Silverstein and I shouldn't actually respect their opinion. I must admit that this is mediocre at best. But considering how many shitty-ass pop-punk bands are out there, this screaming makes this band so much better than ALL of the shit I hear on radio. It seems they are more screamy than singy, and in my opinion it works much better then those fucking poppy ass vocals. Still, this band would only get a 3-4/10 in my books. I'm just tired of people constantly saying that bands such as this should focus on the the 'better' poppier vocals.

I only say the singing parts are better than the screaming parts because the screaming vocalist doesn't have that good a scream.

SilentStorms (March 10, 2008)

thewsuguy (March 9, 2008)

two stars is about 1.5 stars too much.

these guys are horrible.

tenwestchaser (March 8, 2008)

timorous_me (March 8, 2008)

Anyone catch the new Spider-Man cartoon this morning?? The one made by the Gargoyles guys? It wasn't too bad as far as kids' cartoons goes. It was miles ahead of the shitty 90's cartoon.

sleepwalker (March 8, 2008)

A two-star rating is way too much.

Hey_Asshole (March 8, 2008)

awful, awful, awful.

also...the cover art is retarded

DrGunn (March 8, 2008)

should we commence with the spider-man jokes?

i fucking LOVE the conway/andru amazing spider-man run, as absolutely ridiculous as it was at times...