Light The Torch - Revival (2018)

It has been a while since we heard from the guys in Devil You Know, and there are good reasons why. Howard Jones and co. are not the devil we knew anymore, because they have been fighting with some legal mumbo jumbo for the rights of the band name, so they were forced to completely change it to something fans would not recognize. It is still the same 4 guys playing their roles, and the music is still modern metalcore, only difference is that they are now called Light The Torch. So technically, "Revival" is the band's third record, even if it is the first under the new name, and it also marks a fresh start for the band, to put all the drama behind them and to once again focus on the musical side of things.

Frankly, I am quite glad that the band is still going, for their first two records are not all that bad (at least in a "super group" standard), nothing overly original, but certainly enjoyable little pieces of music. "Revival" does not steer away all that much from those album, except for one clear thing, and that is that it is a lot softer than its predecessors, which is something that might divide the fans, even if the core is still very much the same.

There is simply not too much crushing brutality in here, instead the focus is shifted to more catchy and clean music. It sort of brings me back to the soundtrack of the mid 00's NHL games, bands like Jimmy Eat World, Alien Ant Farm, early Avenged Sevenfold, and prime Papa Roach ("She Loves Me Not" baby!). I can see a lot of you cringe already, and I understand it, because even if I might have my nostalgia goggles on for those bands, they do not apply to someone who tries to recapture the magic in 2018.

Thing is though, I do not think Light The Torch is doing this on purpose, it is just an unlucky coincidence that their newer approach sounds kind of outdated from the start. There is still a lot to enjoy though, mostly thanks to a really strong delivery of singer Howard Jones, who balances his deep, manly clean vocals with some nice screams to boot. His biggest moment is in "The Safety of Disbelief", where the emotions are really coming through with some powerful execution. The rest of the band? Sorry, but they are a little too anonymous here, the riffs and solos (the few that exist) are far from memorable, and the rhythm instruments are not doing anything extra to add anything special.

My biggest pet peeve with "Revival" though is the amount of fillers in here. There are 12 songs in here, adding up to a play time of a modest 43 minutes, so the album is not technically a drag, but you can definitely feel how loose it is. The first half is pretty good, with some nice songs like "Die Alone", "Calm Before The Storm", "Raise The Dead", and the previously mentioned "The Safety of Disbelief", but it starts falling behind around the halfway mark, with some really boring fillers. Not even the ultra heavy "The Sound of Violence" can salvage this fall (the only song in my opinion that would fit nicely with the two first albums).

Nah, this album is certainly a disappointment, and it is not because the band has become soft after the name change. "Revival" to me is a boring mess of an album that feels longer than it really is. It might have about 25 minutes of good to okay material, but even that is mostly run of the mill with what the band is truly capable of. Follow my advice, forget about this record and focus your ears instead on "The Beauty of Destruction" and "They Bleed Red", those are much more interesting albums. So yeah, this revival was no success by any means, let us hope Light The Torch bounce back to winning ways.

Songs worthy of recognition: The Safety of Disbelief, Calm Before The Storm, The Sound of Violence

Rating: 4,5/10 Viruses

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More reviews of Light The Torch
The Beauty of Destruction
They Bleed Red

Light The Torch (ex-Devil You Know) - They Bleed Red (2015)

Okay, I do not know what kind of biology lesson the guys in Devil You Know has been too, but if they tried to create some mystique or originality to their album title, I have some bad news for them. We all bleed red, it is as common as super groups. So yeah, the title is corny and close to flat out stupid, but the band does keep the same color palette from their debut, "The Beauty of Destruction", creating a stable theme in the cover department that is recognizable for the band. That is something, I guess.

For those of you who missed out on who these guys are, Devil You Know is a super group consisting of Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage), John Sankey (Fear Factory, Divine Heresy), Fransesco Artusato (All Shall Perish) and Ryan Wombacher (Bleeding Through). Unlike 90% of all other super groups, the band actually created something interesting in "The Beauty of Destruction", mixing classic mainstream metal core melodies with much heavier vibes.

Even if there has only been one year since the last album, "They Bleed Red" displays a different approach. Gone are almost all of the mainstream songs, and left is the heavier material. You will not find a new "Seven Years Alone" in this album, but this does not mean that the songs lacks some catchy hooks to them. Songs like "The Way We Die" and "Your Last Breath" contains choruses that are easy to hum along to, but still holds a fair amount of heavy beats to it so the mainstream rock radio stations will think twice before letting them out in the air ways.

One thing the band has improved on is creating a more stable and even outing in "They Bleed Red". All of the songs holds about the same standard of quality, which certainly is nice for the ones that prefers to listen to entire albums. If you however are a guy who does not have that kind of patience, and worry that the individual tracks are bland, then let me calm you by saying that this album does have some tracks that shines. "Stay of Execution" has a aggression that is very much alike the one we see in Machine Head, which of course is a good thing, and songs like "Shattered Silence" and "Consume The Damned" keeps this aggressive flame running wild throughout the album.

I must also mention the bonus material, especially the cover of the Survivor classic "Eye of The Tiger". I do think the guys had the right idea when making this cover, the instrumentation really transform this classic into a modern metal song, but the over the top vocals by Howard Jones keeps me from loving it, but it could also be that I am dead sick of the song after playing it over a million times in Rock Band. Anyway, the other two bonus tracks, "I Am Alive" and "We Live", are fine, enjoyable songs, but they do not quite fit in with the rest of the album, which is why I think they were left as bonus material.

"They Bleed Red" tend to be a bit monotone in its sound, even with the slower "Let The Pain Take Hold" being there to break things up, and I also think that the first half of the album overtakes the second half in both memorability and quality, but the album is too good to let these negative things be a baggage. The band has done something that almost all super groups has failed at, creating a sound that fans can identify them with without involving any of their other bands. Devil You Know are taking the right steps in establishing a permanent place in the music business, and they are doing so by giving out stellar albums.

Songs worthy of recognition: Shattered Silence, Consume The Damned, Stay of Execution

Rating: 7,5/10 Masters of None

twitter.com/LTTorchBand

More reviews of Light The Torch
The Beauty of Destruction
Revival

Light The Torch (ex-Devil You Know) - The Beauty of Destruction (2014)

Another super band? Oh boy, that is just what the metal community needed... not really. Anyway, the band was created in 2012 by the drummer John Sankey (Fear Factory, Divine Heresy) and guitarist Francesco Artusato (All Shall Perish). They were later joined by Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage), Ryan Wombacher (Bleeding Through) and Roy Lev-Ari (Hiss of Atrocities).

When I am reading the line-up, I am trying to figure out what type of music these guys will offer us. My first thought was that it would be some kind of heavy metal core, which later on proved to be right. "The Beauty of Destruction" is filled several heavy parts, especially in the guitar work, but it is blended together with catchy and melodic song structures that appeals to the radio stations. It doesn't surprise me that Devil You Know is more Killswitch Engage than All Shall Perish, but I would have expected something more original from these experienced musicians.

The music itself is not overly impressive, but it has it strong points. The epic and heavy "It's Over" is the most original and interesting piece in the entire album, while "A Mind Insane" impresses with its doomish segments and complete insanity. But the album also has some good mainstream quality in songs like "Seven Years Alone" and "For The Dead And Broken". This makes "The Beauty of Destruction" into a well diverse album that does not get boring to listen to.

The overall quality however is far too unstable to be taken seriously. Boring tunes like "A New Beginning" and "Crawl From The Dark" are being mixed with more interesting tracks like "The Killer" and I Am The Nothing", which in the end makes me loose the interest on the album. I know that these guys are experienced, so it shouldn't be such a problem to expect a stable album from them. But it seems like the band does not really know where they want to go with their music. Do they want to go mainstream or do they instead want to focus on creating heavy and innovative music? That is a question that must be answered before the next album if they want to continue this project.

I agree with Devil You Know that destruction can be beautiful, however "The Beauty of Destruction" is far from the prettiest album released this year. It has some good intentions that gives some hope for this project in the future, but just like any other super band, it falls in comparison with the member's past/current main bands. Devil You Know is one of the better "super" bands that has emerged during the 21st century, unfortunately, that does not say much about their overall quality within the band, even though "The Beauty of Destruction" is a promising debut.

Songs worthy of recognition: A Mind Insane, Seven Years Alone, It's Over

Rating: 7/10 Killers

twitter.com/LTTorchBand

More reviews of Light The Torch
The Beauty of Destruction

They Bleed Red

Revival