Sometimes a band breaks up and then reforms for all the wrong reasons. Other times, they break up for the wrong reasons. Will Haven seems to have fallen into the latter category. I was skeptical when I heard that the band was getting back together, wondering if they would still have the same sound and the same creative fire that drove their earlier records. I was not let down. Will Haven was a band with great promise that broke up way too early in their career. The band splintered off into its separate parts in 2002 and it was assumed that they were done. Fortunately, that was not the case. After getting back together and writing some new tunes, they decided to part ways with original vocalist Grady Avenell and take on Jeff Jaworski. Changing your frontman is a bold step for any band--when the voice of your band changes, the whole sound of the band changes. Enter The Heirophant.
The new disc is a step forward while still remaining firmly rooted in the sound that got this band started. The guitars are downtuned, the drums are pounding, the vocals are anguished. Jeff Jaworski fits the band very well and actually has a bit more clarity to his voice than Grady. The lyrical style is a bit of a shift as well since Jaworski has a more poetic feel to his lyrics. The tune that I heard first was “Helena,” which is the first track on the band’s myspace page. It hits hard right out of the gate and doesn’t let up through the whole tune. Even when the guitars take on a more atmospheric feel, it only adds to the menacing quality of the tune. My personal favorite track is “Sammy Davis Jr’s One Good Eye.” This track opens with an almost blastbeat and then drops right into a killer groove that just pounds the listener into submission.
Overall, the record sounds like Will Haven, only a little different. That’s not a bad thing. I just wonder if the old fans will dig the new sound. I only have two complaints about the record as a whole. First, the mastering was done so that the disc is very loud and there are a few spots where there is some digital clipping from this. Most listeners might not even notice this, but it can be distracting. The second issue I have is that Jaworski seems to feel the need to cram too many words into the songs. There are a few tracks that could have been improved by simply cutting some vocals out. If this lineup can stay together, I will be checking out anything that they record and put out.
| Reviewer: Dave Warren Added: June 13th 2007 |
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