As a whole the album is pretty unremarkable. A Dozen Furies are clearly looking to cash in on the current metalcore trend that has been sweeping through the American metal scene. Though I like metalcore as much as anyone and I am glad to see some decent metal bands break through to the mainstream , I can’t help but think that the wave of metalcore has crested. All the standard components of the metalcore sound are here; the Swedish influenced guitar riffs, hardcore breakdowns, screamed verses and clean vocal choruses dominate the album. One thing that can be said to the band’s credit is that they do solo occasionally. However, A Dozen Furies definitely fall more toward the melodic and pop end of the metalcore spectrum.

A good track to check out to get a feel for the record is “Idea and Some Rope.” The song starts with a nice catchy Swedish riff that carries the song into a decent chorus. However, like much of the rest of the album, the quality of the song is ruined by overuse of breakdowns. As a huge fan of the Gothenburg scene, I would have liked to hear more of a metal influence instead of hardcore. “Everlasting Grudge,” and “The Cycle” are two other standout tracks.

A Concept From Fire is not an awful album by any means. Coming from a band picked by a reality show, A Concept From Fire could have been much worse. However, while listening to it, I could not help but get a feeling of déjà vu. Not only had I heard this kind of stuff done before, I had also heard done better. The record pales in comparison to metalcore efforts released this year by Trivium, Still Remains, Darkest Hour and a number of other bands of that ilk. The bottom line is that if you’re looking for metalcore, there is better stuff out there.

written by Scott Huffard

Playing time: 41.55