Descriptions of As Cities Burn say they are Christian hardcore or Christian punk. That would indicate, if memory and research serves, that the music would be loud and fast yet melodic and raw.
Well, they definitely have the loud part handled. Colin Kimble’s chaotic guitar soars far beyond normal listening pleasure. Strangely, though they have the loud and raw aspects, the fast seems to be missing. The languid pace of most of the tracks puts the listener into a freefall through a vacuous, metaphysical la-la land. Despite that, they do have the pronounced essence of melody. For example, the first track “Clouds” - though seemingly interminable - contains some attractive musical arrangement. Tracks four and seven, “This Is It, This Is It” and “Tides” respectively, hints at the speed and the power that this band is definitely capable of producing.
Let’s make a comparison between a band and a family. To be successful, a family needs a strong foundation; likewise, a band needs a good and stable foundation. In a family, that foundation would be the parents; in a band, it’s the bass and the drums, the all-powerful rhythm section. As Cities Burn has two good “parents”, as it were. Drummer Aaron Lunsford and bassist Pascal Barone provide a deep and powerful low end to the band. They also establish an authentic tempo and strengthen the many listless tracks.
The children in our illustration would be the vocals and the guitars. In this particular family, the vocals are like the youngest kid who doesn’t assert himself. Perhaps As Cities Burn fit the punk profile in that the vocals are buried behind everything else - but that seems more a result of lack of balance than a close adherence to style. Cody Bonnette took over the job for his departed brother and shows some ability for the front man duties. However, his talents don’t really permeate the tantrums of the group’s ‘problem child’ - the guitar work of Colin Kimble.
The band’s emotional core seems to be linked to their weighty lyrics. However, when these are obscured by a cacophony of squealing strings the message behind the words becomes irrelevant. In the end, Come Now Sleep is an adequate title for a CD that contains some moments of melodic power yet will put most metalheads into a coma. The egregious guitar may make it difficult to enjoy the nap, of course. Come Now Sleep gives a good push into the nether regions of punk or hardcore
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jangoman (link)
Pascal no longer plays bass, Colin plays bass and the new member Christopher plays guitar. TJ and Pascal both left awhile back. Just letting you know
2 - Gray Hunter
My apologies for the error.
I see that on the MySpace webpage the lineup Jangoman gives is listed. On the As Cities Burn webpage, under Biography, the lineup is given as stated in the article.
3 - Nathan
The first track is called Contact, not Clouds.
Clouds is track five.
4 - avaren
Somehow, I fail to lend credibility for the author when they can't even get the lineup or the order of tracks right.
5 - Gray Hunter
That should read "fail to lend credibility TO the author when HE can't even get the lineup ... right."
Thank you.
6 - Stewart
Worst review I've ever read. Make sure you know what you're talking about before you post your thoughts on the web for everyone to see.
7 - Gray Hunter
Stewart,
You need to read more.
8 - Leuke
I must disagree. This is one of my all time favorite CDs. I think the Kimble's guitar style is one of the best I have ever heard. And yeah, mistakes ahoy. This is a five star CD and I highly recommend it.
9 - Gray Hunter
Yes, some errors. Again, my apologies for that. I was wrong about the lineup (which I took right from the band's "Bio" webpage) and I said that "Clouds" was the first track; Nathan properly mentioned that it's the fifth. Perhaps I'd had a fifth whence looking upon the track listing. I don't really remember.
Other than those two errors the review correctly reflects my evaluation of the music.
Now, Leuke brings up an interesting thought. I mean no disrespect by this, either. Can a CD become your all-time favorite five minutes after it's release? I remember that I once proclaimed Quiet Riot's "The Wild and the Young" as one of my all-time favorite metal songs. I said it repeatedly. Whilst it is a good song, it no longer holds that place as "all-time favorite." It simply remains on the "Nostalgic Favorites" list.
Anyway, the comment made me think of that Quiet Riot song.
10 - thesharc
man gray hunter...
what the hell was the family analogy? that made absolutely no sense and was just a masturbatory way to pat yourself on the back for writing creatively.
And smugly pointing out grammatical mistakes on a comment which very pithily describes your inefficacy at reviewing just makes you look like a defensive prick.
also..as to your last comment..more people, including pretentious reviewers like yourself, make the mistake of writing a CD off too quickly before its genius can truly unfold on the listener.
11 - Nick
This review was lame. The CD is great as long as you have a musical maturity that surpasses that of a 10 year old you should really enjoy the unique craftsmanship of each song. I'd give it an 8 out of 10
12 - Gray Hunter
Super. Thanks for reading.
13 - scotty
First of all, let me say that the notice on the bottom of this page that wards against personal attacks made me laugh out loud, because that's basically every post on this page. Yeah Gray Hunter didn't like this CD as much as the rest of the known world, but hey, it's his opinion (no matter how wrong he may be).
I agree that the family analogy was a bit weak, because each band has its own musical foundation. I would argue to say that ACB's backbone is Cody's highly heart-felt, yet surprisingly not "emo" lyrics.
This CD definately does not contain the hardcore aspect that their previous release had, but they also lost their lead singer/screamer before really starting to record this album.
In my opinion, there are a few parts on this album that I would fast-forward, so that I could get to the parts where the music really gets going. Maybe a few too many interludes or background music (which im sure some may enjoy).
My top tracks are "the Hoard" and "Empire".
And my last comment will be this:
Dude, the guitar is damn amazing. Yeah, it isn't run of the mill power chords with easy-to-hear solos. The chaotic yet calming (what?) guitar is, again, in my opinion, incredibly innovative and genius.
14 - Ian
I agree this review is really not that well written. I'm really not a religious person or anything but their music and their lyrics are really powerful even to me. Clouds is a really intense song even though it's only two verses. And it does have this really mellow relaxing tone to the guitar but at the same time it's quite intense and i think scotty summed it up the best, chaotic yet calming. Personally I would put this cd in the same category as a band like Brand New, with their originality and innovative music. I haven't heard a cd as unique as this one in a long time, it's really refreshing.
15 - Ian
would you guys classify Clouds as an interlude rather than a song? I know most of the time interludes are just instrumental but if you listen to the music and the lyrics they kinda blend together and to me it seems like an interlude in between tracks 4 and 6, just a thought
16 - boogie
as cities burn is not religious they are
faithful in the spirit
17 - Hollywood
i have to say that with the old ACB, it wasnt hard to recognize the talent that they all had as musicians, but the cd on end was just too mixed up for me. i really couldnt tell if they even had an individual sound to call their own. the consequence was that it came off as generic... generic experimental that is... and i wasnt interested.
with this new album, they clearly have a sound and the musicianship is still very present, and probably even more prominent than SILYAYD. and i am overly pleased with how well the new guy sings and writes lyrics. to be honest, its become a turn off to me when a musically good christian band only has lyrics of GOD IS GOOD. its refreshing to see some dynamics with the spirituality.
Xx
18 - jimmy
horrible review. i agree with the guy that said you probably masturbate to the sound of your own voice. do a little research between your "big" words, and give some content that people can actually use.
dumb. this is why the internet is ruining music, anyone with a thesaurus and a computer can post generic bullshit that other people think is important.
19 - Brad
I think Cody is a brilliant writer and performer. His styles are the reasons why I keep listening to this album (as well as their previous album) because the songs are not some random words thrown into music. They truly mean something, and they apparently come from different struggles and feelings throughout his life.
Lyrically, I think this album centers around a personal relationship with God, and how one questions their faith at times.
The last song, Timothy, gives me chills every time I listen to it.
Musically, I would describe this album simply as alternative rock. It's like one AMAZING jam session, especially in Timothy.
On a scale from 1 to 10 on originality, I'd give it a 9.5
20 - Bex17B
Ill start of by saying that I enjoyed Son, I loved you at your darkest very much. But in this new direction after TJ left as vocalist, they become a very dynamic band. Cody is brilliant and he shines brighter as the frontman of As Cities Burn. His guitar work is so melodic and catchy it becomes stuck in my head all the time. Lyricaly he puts deep emotion into all the tracks sometimes questioning his own faith, which Im sure many of us can relate to. Colin and Aaron set a good rythm with bass and drums. Chris' guitar work is not like anything ive ever heard. He creates an aura around everyone else. All this meshed together and you get a masterpeice. I saw them live from the front row at Cornerstone and it was a great experience. It was before Come Now Sleep and Cody performed well with the old material without TJ. They played a couple of the new songs but didnt have much impact since it was unreleased at the time and no one knew the songs. I am awaiting seeing them with the new set of songs. This is by far my favorite album right now, I know it would be a stretch to say it is the greatest album ever but I love it that much.
21 - Caleb
Well lets see first off, i think critics are waist of time. let people think for there self, ive based my life around music and art and still i never and believe no one should ever tell someone what to like or not like. and as for my personal belief is that ive heard alot of bands and As Cities Burn is by far the best song writers period! in my opinion of course, there words speak with a huge voice the lyrics are genius and the music is brilliant. i like how they seem to just jam in the long outros or interludes because you can just drive in your car and leave reality or simply feel better about it. like i said i dont believe in critics i look at stuff for myself and you should too. and from talking to cody, he writes the lyrics and the bulk of the guitar and is deffently the DAD! but he wouldnt be much with out the other great musicians by his side! plus he has the best headbag! later!
22 - Cap
The author labeled this album as Christian Hardcore or Christian punk. Overall, I suppose this is a fairly accurate label, though I wonder just how much it truly fits into the typical concept of these labels. I've listened to the album quite a bit, and it would almost seem that the faster tempo songs are merely an interlude to the slower songs. The songs that have short verses and are generally lengthy, tend to hold the album together. It's almost opposite of the standard album layout.
Musically I think this album is really quite impressive. I don't know the names of the musicians, so I'll just go by the instrument as I hear it. The bass and drums do exactly as bass and drums are supposed to do. They lay the groundwork and rhythm for the song. The drums are really fairly innovative, and employ relatively diverse patterns. Meanwhile the bass is playing along with drums, following the pocket beautifully. The guitar work is quite literally amazing. Granted it can seem sporadic at times, and almost jumbled, but over time as you listen to it you start to realize the intent and the effect of the guitar on the song. Truly amazing.
Honestly, though, the lyrics make this album truly shine. The theme running throughout the album of love and certainty is strong, and summed up by the closing track of Timothy. There is a certain amount of escapism that is demonstrated as well, with the closing lines of the album. Brilliant.
And I know, I just wrote a book about this album, but oh well.
23 - Peter Quistgard
b/s review. Well written album. I was worried at first about the intensity of the vocals being sacrificed but I think the ACB boys pulled it together quite well.
24 - Peter Quistgard
if you like this album, Circa Survive, Receiving End of Sirens, Fordirelifesake, etc. wait about 6 months for the Sky Vs Sea EP.
great boys, great music.
keep the peace.
25 - Just A Guy
The mistakes you made, regardless of your sources, are key points as to why you'll never do anything more than spew your garbage opinions online.
Misinformed or just stupid? Probably the latter.
Lollercoaster, Gray... lollercoaster.