When From First To Last announced they were making a comeback and recording a new EP I was beyond excited. I first started listening to the band in 2005 when I heard their debut album "Dear Diary, My Teen Angst has a Body Count" and even though they underwent many line-up changes I still remained a loyal fan.
So a few weeks after the announcement they decided to recruit Spencer Sotelo from Periphery as the vocalist for the EP, I must admit I mixed feelings since I love both Spencer and Matt's vocals, in fact I think Matt Good is the best vocalist that FFTL has ever had. With my mixed feelings in hand I was still optimistic as this could potentially bring a new fresh sound to the band. In November 2014 the band announced the new album would be called Dead Trees and that it would be a full length album instead of a EP. I Finally managed to get my hands on the album in April 2015 and these are my thoughts...
The album starts off with a rather unnecessary intro which leads into a heavy track called "Straight to the Face". Both of these tracks sound nothing like FFTL and combined last just shy of two and a half minutes. Next is a track called "M8 Meh", this sounds more like a FFTL song with some heavier elements. The album Title track "Dead Trees" is an instant classic with a memorable sing-a-long chorus, I can see this being played in their future live sets. "Black and White" tries quite hard to be catchy with its predictable sappy lyrics but it does offer a great instrumental. The album slows down with "Back to Hannalei" and really showcases Spencer's superb vocals, its one of the better tracks on the album in my opinion. Things get heavy with "Never in Reverie" and "2 11" but these tracks don't really offer anything memorable and forgotten when the next track starts. "Electrified" comes through with a pop-metal sound and even some Slipknot influences, I really liked this bouncy track. The final song " I Don't Wanna Live in the Real World" reminds me of The Used with their usual pop acoustic sound but does contain come comedic catchy lyrics. As a added bonus FFTL re-recorded "Note To Self", "Ride the Wings of Pestilence" and "The Latest Plague" with Spencer on vocals and Wow, I was impressed. Spencer nailed the songs and brought a fresh sound to them.
Overall I found the album to be average at best. It had its moments but I don't see myself revisiting this album as a whole like I would with Dear Diary or Heroine. I can however say that I will definitely have a few of these tracks on repeat. Spencer does a great job on vocals but I honestly feel the album would of sounded more like a FFTL album with Matt Good on vocals. To me this does not really sound like a FFTL record, in fact it sounds more like a side project. A lot of the songs on here fall short of being memorable and often sound the same. I really hoped for a great comeback record but unfortunately it did not live up to all the hype.
If I had to put a rating on this album it would be a 4/10.
