ANIME FIRE — On the Wings of Hope (review)

ANIME FIRE — On the Wings of Hope album cover EP · 2009 · Metalcore Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
DeathOfSeasons
Anime Fire, are a Metalcore band formed in 2005 in Perth. Their debut EP, "Where the Wolves Fear to Tread", got critically bashed (especially by Blunt magazine). Well now they're back with their second EP, and it's surprisingly good.

"On the Wings of Hope" is a huge step up from "Where the Wolves Fear to Tread". Musically it sounds a lot like Parkway Drive. In fact, you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to Parkway Drive if it weren't for one key aspect of Anime Fire's sound: the electronic elements. In fact, excluding opener "On the Wings of Hope", every track here either begins with an electronic intro ("Sea of Serpents") or has an electronic interlude ("Apophis (Destroy of Worlds)" and "Mother of the Storm"). These parts are absolutely fantastic and add an amazing atmosphere to this record. The keyboards used in "On the Wings of Hope" make the song sound absolutely epic. The music found here really gives you the feeling that you're at the beach or swimming in the ocean. It's fantastic stuff.

However, the amazing atmospheric parts only further point out how generic the rest of the music found here is. Everything found here (excluding the use of programming of course) has been done previously by Parkway Drive on their album Horizons. There's nothing wrong with the music, but it feels so familiar which is a shame.

Another problem is the breakdowns. Look, this is modern Metalcore and you should expect breakdowns, but they are ridiculously drawn out. "On the Wings of Hope" contains a massive forty second long breakdown, while "Apophis (Destroyer of Worlds)" contains multiple breakdowns all nearing or passing the thirty second mark. The final breakdown in the song goes for over a minute!

The vocals on display here (thanks to Maty Rowe) are fairly good. His vocals often swap between the Metalcore styled scream and Deathcore growls. He does mix up a bit, so it doesn't get repetitive. "Sea of Serpents" is a great example of his vocal abilities.

Overall, this could've been a great record, but it's severely held back by overlong breakdowns and a fairly generic structure. I love what they're doing with programming and electronics, it's just a shame they can't back it up with anything other than second hand "Slaughter of the Soul" riffs and leads. However, these guys do have massive potential so I do recommend this to all Metalcore fans.

Download: On the Wings of Hope

For fans of: Parkway Drive, Bleeding Through

(Originally written for Rate Your Music)
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