From First To Last

Heroine

[4/5] Let’s just get it out of the way, for the scene police who won’t even bother finishing this review before posting crap like “Don’t hang with kids who use Heroine” online: If you’re convinced From First To Last are the devil, Heroine won’t convert you, so you can stop reading now. In fact, even if you’re a fan of FFTL, you may have trouble getting your head around the risks the world’s most polarizing screamo band have taken on their second album for Epitaph. But if you take some time to hear where they’re going, the journey is well worth it. Although they’re packing a star producer this time in former nü-metal Svengali Ross Robinson, it’s Robinson’s later work with At The Drive-In Heroine most brings to mind. From the rhythmically dense atmospherics of “Mothersound” that open the album, to the time-crunching workout of the title track that closes it, to the upper-register vocal acrobatics of frontman Sonny Moore that define the band’s sound, FFTL’s latest is as brain-bendingly progged-out as screamo gets. And though they may be young (session bassist/Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland is the only member over 25), FFTL have crammed two generations’ worth of influences–from Nine Inch Nails and Deftones to the Used and Blood Brothers–into these 11 songs. Yes, despite the increased weirdness factor, Heroine will probably be huge with people who see punk as a popularity contest, but think about it: Would you rather live in a world where Nickelback was the only alternative?
(EPITAPH) Aaron Burgess



ROCKS LIKE: At The Drive-In’s Relationship Of Command • The Blood Brothers’ Crimes • The Used’s The Used