The fourth review I wrote for Cool Try.

I think it was around this one where something of a “style” (really stretching the definition of the word here) began to emerge.

I think I wrote the majority of this over the course of a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.
I should’ve worked a bit more on it. There’s a lot here that could’ve been better.

Looking at this led to me going back and pulling stuff from what were the blogs I had when I was nineteen. There are a number of reviews there which I’m going to need to pull for some things, so eventually they will end up here.

Aside from cleaning up some spelling errors, this is as it was.

My colleague and I are working on growing Culture Eater so we can have more things covered whilst taking the pressure of continually putting out content off of ourselves. Hence our going onto Patreon.

We’re looking at what we can give to supporters as we don’t want to set up a one way relationship, so suggestions are welcome. Please consider supporting, or at least sharing the Patreon page with others.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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Senses Fail have been around for a little while now.
Despite a few shifts in the line up, they haven’t slowed down and have remained consistent when it comes to releasing new music and touring.
They are now releasing their sixth album.
Is it a winner?

Pull the Thorns From Your Heart takes off with the thrash influenced “The Three Marks of Existence”.
From there, it runs through balladesque , heavy stompers, and hardcore anthems.
The order it runs through works well, with many of the lighter songs serving as a breath between the heavier stuff.

There’s a lot of energy in the tracks, with guitar and bass pounding away over drums that shift gear in rapid succession.
It’s clear that a lot of work has gone into the composition and it has paid off well.
However, some of it can feel really familiar.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not a good thing either.
There are certainly adventurous parts (the last two tracks in particular), and they shine brighter for it, but much of it seems as though they’ve followed a formula.
With that being said, the songs are strong.

The vocals are also strong, but the lyrics can be under-cooked in places.
Lines such as “There is no / agony / like holding on / to an untold story / inside of you / poisoning the truth (from “Take Refuge”)” and “Cultivate the change you seek / love is not a song sung by the weak (from “The Three Marks of Existence”)” are all throughout the album.
To an extent, they’re relatable but can come off as ham-fisted and self-involved and are weaker as they don’t seem to have had much work put into them.
They work best when there are screams as the clean vocals, whilst nice, tend to make the lyrics come off as far more emotional than they need to be.

With that being said, they also feel incredibly uplifting.
“Be the lamp unto yourself / shine the light onto the truth (from “Dying Words”)” gives a positive message about having strength to not mire oneself in crap and “Reach up from the soil and bloom / go to the places that scare you (from “We all are Returning Home”)” feels like someone telling you that they know you’re able to step forward and conquer that which you are afraid of.

Pull the Thorns From Your Heart isn’t a bad album, but it’s not a good album either.
There’s a lot of energy and the songs are crafted well, but it doesn’t feel as good as it could be.
The lyrics needed a bit more work as they aren’t as strong as they could be in parts and it can be a bit distracting.
With that being said, the album does point in a good direction and the fans can be satisfied with this work as it’s much better than a lot of stuff out there.