Album Review: Silverstein - Rescue (2011)

The emo/screamo scene that once thrived in the mid-2000s is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Heroes like The Used and My Chemical Romance have strayed from the path, while screamo darlings like A Static Lullaby and From Autumn to Ashes have fallen by the wayside. Senses Fail is still trying to re-create their magic they found on Let it Enfold You, and Finch's Say Hello to Sunshine sent their career right back to obscurity after the undeniably great What it is to Burn shot them near the cusp of modern-rock success. And then there's the heartbreaking story of how Island Records completely mishandled Thursday. So, with all this negativity, one can easily draw the conclusion that the emo scene didn't produce a single band that was able to sustain a career without completely changing their genre/sound, falling off the map completely, or calling it quits? Fear not, for I give you Silverstein. After a lengthy deal with Victory Records (that they somehow actually fulfilled), the band have found a new home on Hopeless Records, and have released Rescue, their sixth (SIXTH!) studio full-length album. We all know its easy to stick to the same formula, but can Silverstein change up the pace a little bit and continue to be the sole keepers of the screamo faith?



If Rescue were to keep to its name and save screamo from all these silly kids with leather pants and shwoopy hair (See: Brides, Black Veil), the album falls a bit short. As said earlier, this is Silverstein's sixth studio album, and aside from the throw-away Arrivals and Departures, all of them have been pretty good, mixing emo lyrics and melodies with Shane Told's signature growls and screams. However, the albums fall victim to the "they all sound the same" moniker at times, but Silverstein have still found ways to tweak their screamo stylings with Neil Boshart's ever-improving guitar work pacing the band through a mix of fast-paced, mosh-tastic (writer's note: I just made that up) jams, with a few slower songs mixed in from time to time, and seemingly always in the right spot (the best example being the title track of Discovering the Waterfront, the fan-approved standout of Silverstein's discography). However, Rescue does very little to stray from the path in terms of the rest of the band's albums, and seeing as this is a new labal and, by association, a new beginning for the band, it would have been nice to see them take a few more risks, which some fans have been calling for after being let down by Arrivals and Departures.

Still, that's not to say there isn't anything to be taken from Rescue. The album could very well be the hardest-hitting of all of Silverstein's albums, with the only possible exception being When Broken is Easily Fixed. Boshart's guitar riffs are the best we've seen in a while for any screamo band, and Rescue will likely be on his resume should he ever need work elsewhere. The killer tracks "In Memory Of..." "Sacrifice" are ready to be moshed to, and the whole album's pace never lets up. Rescue is unrelenting on energy, as if this was an up-and-coming-band's first release, rather than a living legend's sixth. Nevertheless, this album is yet another well-done album by Silverstein, with the highlight coming on the short-but-sweet "Texas Mickey," which features a guest vocal appearance by fellow former Victory Records artist Anthony Raneri of Bayside. Already helping our on one of the best albums of 2011, Killing Time (which we at the show really, really like), Raneri's guest spot on "Texas Mickey" helps the song go from the standout track on Rescue to one of the best songs of the year, and one of the best Silverstein songs we've heard since Waterfront.

The Bottom Line: Rescue is another quality Silverstein album through and through. There are spots that could have been fine-tuned and experimented with, which may have been nice to see how the band could branch out. That being said, the album still hits hard, and Silverstin continue to carry the torch for screamo through the muck of these neon-clad teeny-boppers that plague the scene.

Recommended if you rock: Silverstein's Discovering the Waterfront, Senses Fail's Let it Enfold You, A Day to Remember's Homesick