Artist: The Black Maria
Album: Lead Us To Reason
Label: Victory Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 37:27
Review by: Phil Nichols

A phoenix is a legendary bird. They are said to live for centuries and then burn themselves only to rise anew from their ashes. It is often used as a metaphor for something that reinvents itself or that forms out of the demise of something else.

The Black Maria is like a phoenix.

At least, that's what their press release says:

"Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of Grade, Zyon, and New Day Rising...[The Black Maria] has nothing to do with those [previous bands], rather it is a group vision, evolving in the process of invention."

In the past few months three other band's press releases have compared them to the phoenix as well. I shall now lay out my case against the Black Maria's claim to phoenixhood. My reasons for disbelief are threefold:

Reason #1- The Validity of the Source
The same press release that draws the comparison also makes a few other bold statements that call into question the document's validity. For example: "[The Black Maria's] music defies category". This makes me wonder whether the author even listened to the band.

The Black Maria sounds like just about every other band that Victory records has been signing recently. After the mainstream success of Taking Back Sunday they have been in a frenzy trying to sign as many trendy emo/scremo bands as possible. The Black Maria is no exception. The catchy hooks, the tight harmonies, the dueling vocal lines - it's all here. The music certainly can be categorized and therefore the source is invalid.

Reason #2- A Question of Change
To be compared to a phoenix the band would have to have formed something beautiful and/or innovative out of the ashes of their previous bands. However, as previously stated, much of the band's sound is a derivative of recent music trends.

But trendiness aside, much of Lead Us To Reason is just plain boring. The lyrics are cliche and juvenile. For example: "Betrayal, betrayal, it rips right through me / How you lie right to me, betrayal, betrayal / Will this world make better sense / when you mean nothing to me?" It just seems cheesy and forced, rather than heartfelt and meaningful. Musically, the band is tight and the vocals are decent, but there really is nothing to make the Black Maria stand out from the millions of similar bands vying for the next nano-second of the general public's attention.

Reason #3- The Black Maria is not a bird.
Enough said.

Overall, Lead Us To Reason is not too bad, but it fails to sound interesting in lieu of the current music trends. Had this been released a few years ago or if this had been a little more creative then they may have earned the right to phoenixdom.  Until then -pardon the cheesy metaphor - they are just one of the multitudes of screamo seagulls on the beach of life.