Idea Of Beauty Dark

Do you ever listen to a band and wish that they would be the poster-child for the particular genre they play and not some other undeserving band Well, Idea Of Beauty are a dead-on comparison to the above description. On the whole, the band falls into the (ever-gaining in popularity) "post-hardcore" realm of things, but calling them a post-hardcore band is probably doing the band a disservice. Ideally, Idea Of Beauty sound to me to be more of a melodic hardcore band (we do have breakdowns here, and the music is, blatantly, pretty heavy most of the time), and I can't deny the driving rock elements present in many of the guitar and bass lines, but I feel bad comparing them to other groups like Codeseven or The Bled or even Year Of The Rabbit like one of their press sheets claim. I think this not because these comparisons aren't analogous, but because Idea of Beauty have such a great sound that I'd rather compare some of those other bands to them and not vice versa. If it's hard to believe that Idea Of Beauty are that appealing to my sense of sound, I'll admit that it took me a long time (maybe two months, to be honest) to fully get into the band's sound, but it was well worth it. Ultimately, I think the vocals really set Idea of Beauty apart. I honestly don't think a fan of Thursday could listen to this and absorb the stark contrast of Brett Latta's harsh, layered vocals (which at first sound more appropriate set to a band like Undying than Idea of Beauty) with the ‘nicer' half of the music, i.e. everything else. But it's this contrast that makes the band worthwhile. I enjoy the thought of listening to a track that starts out sounding like the Codeseven opener "Southie" ("Hotter Than A California Fire") only to dissolve into something else completely different (and heavier). And I enjoy listening to something that could be described as ‘a metal version of The Cranberries' ("#5 With A Bullet"). And when I get tired of the drifting melodies (I haven't yet) and I just want something heavy, I can just as easily turn to "I Dare You" for a song ending with a cacophony of sound. I could go on at some length about this band, but hopefully you get the picture by now. If you manage to get past the artwork (which is again, sadly, a little cliché despite being nice to look at) and the preconceptions behind this genre, Idea of Beauty will be waiting for you. The production and recording of "Dark" (courtesy of Eddie Wohl) are solid (especially when slightly distorted bass pops up out of nowhere while managing to sound blended) and the music is just as substantial. Bottom Line: Idea Of Beauty are one of the few bands I know of that can play melodic music while keeping it dark (no pun intended) with the vocals. And to their benefit, the concept pans out well. I can safely recommend this to someone who can't stand post-anything, but is looking for a little bit of diversity without sacrificing punch.