UnderOathArtist: Greeley Estates
Album: Far From the Lies
Label: Record Collection
Tracks: 12
Length: 48:21
Review by: John Durkee

After touring for a few years and self-releasing their own LP and DVD (Outside of This and The Death of Greeley Estates respectively), the Arizona band, Greeley Estates, signed a deal with Record Collection, played the entire Warped Tour 2005 and released the EP, Caveat Emptor. Since then they were apart of this year’s Taste of Chaos Tour and Warped Tour. To go with this relentless touring, they now released Far From the Lies, another pop screamo album along the lines of UnderOath (think of They’re Only Chasing Safety era UnderOath).

Far From the Lies opens with a heavy sounding hardcore elements, but right when the screams comes the song falls flat. The vocals in general are stale due to almost no variation in style or performance. All the screams are yelled in a fatalistic and almost argumentative style, as though the vocalist is too angry to share how he feels in a way that’s relatable to others. In fact, it sounds as though he merely wants to scream out his frustrations and cares little what happens from it. This way of expressing polarizes the audience between those who feel this kind of fatalistic depression, and those who don’t. For those who don’t, this record will not be relatable and will sound like someone is merely ranting through screaming in your ear. On the other hand this record will be a source of understanding and joy for those who relate to the album.

The album as a whole is not entirely bad, as there are some very catchy moments on the album (particularly “Through Waiting”), but Far From The Lies ultimately leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Whether it is the over dramatic lyrics (“I should have known it was you, I should have seen in your eyes, tie me up behind this truck so that I won’t forget you, keep dragging me just like ou are” from “Too Much CSI”), the overabundance of screams, or tracks that contain no focus of interest and simply meander, the record is just a sour version of UnderOath or Senses Fail.

Perhaps to those who really enjoy this genre, Far From the Lies will be an enjoyable release, but otherwise its abrasive way of communicating to the listener as well as the vocalists relatively poorly delivered vocals will keep everyone else from appreciating it.