Album Review

In Fear And Faith – Imperial

• 15th Jun 2010

The press release that arrived with the copy of San Diego sextet, In Fear and Faith’s second album for Rise Records explained that the band feel that they sound like a cross between 30 Seconds to Mars, Muse and A Perfect Circle among others. ‘Hmmm, interesting.’ I initially thought but upon hearing the CD I put into the player, I began to question if I had been sent the correct disc.

When you think of bands as described above, one word comes to mind – epic. All three bands mentioned are famous for their massive soundscapes and through that the emotional response from the listener forms, usually resulting in goosebumps or that hair raising feeling. Listening to IFAF, I could see absolutely no trace of likeness to anything remotely epic, or moving on any level. Instead what In Fear and Faith have accomplished with their most recent effort is nothing that most metalheads wouldn’t label as yet more Emo/Screamo/Metalcore fodder. Imperial shows signs that the band have put more thought into composition than most other bands of their ilk and the standard of playing is fairly high but there is simply nothing here to inspire anything in anyone aside from die-hard fans of the genre. A Perfect Circle indeed. They wish!