Dreams Forever Drowning Entire Parts Never To Be Left Incomplete

First off, a little disclaimer; the Colorado label Too Bad You're Beautiful has absolutely no affiliation with From Autumn To Ashes' album of the same name. That said, State Island's Dreams Forever Drowning is the first thing I've heard from this label. "Entire Parts Never To Be Left Incomplete" (dang, that was a mouthful) is like a genre nomad. The first song, "As If A Second Self" is catchy, backpacker punk rock, and I thought I was in for an album of head bobbing fun! But then, out of nowhere, things change. Within a single song. Parts of a song start out as pop-punk, then turn into screamy hardcore. It's a little disconcerting at first, because you never know what to expect. Is this pop punk Is this metalcore For a second, you have bouncy, energetic music with clean vocals. Then the next, you have dancefloor-clearing monster parts with hellbound shrieking! When it occurs within a single song, it's discontinuous. Dynamics are essential, and definitely show the range and skill of Dreams Forever Drowning's players, but it's too zig-zagged and out of focus here, which might frustrate potential DFD fans. If you don't have the patience to listen to an entire song, you might not get to the meaty parts. Dreams Forever Drowning is female-fronted, but don't go thinking Walls Of Jericho. There's much more positivity and pop on this album. Front-lady Annmarie Papadoulis is most appealing when she rips the roof off and screams like a banshee. (She gets maniacal on "Guilt Replacer.") She's better than a lot of dudes out there! Her clean vocals leave a bit to be desired, because they are high and tend to overpower the rest of the music. But that's nothing a producer could not fix and help "mix" with more ease. But she's a femme fatale who sure can bark like a beast. The male-female duet on "One Defends The Other Conquers" is the most captivating piece of music on "Entire Parts Never To Be Left Incomplete" and is the album's best song, because it goes from heavy, to soft, to heavy again seamlessly, which isn't the case on other tunes. Bottom Line: Dreams Forever Drowning definitely has the parts, but the assembly is a little off kilter. Again, this is a first offering for the band, so there is always room for growth and improvement, not to mention a producer who could do wonders for the band on its next outing. The foundation is there - it just needs some fine-tuning. There's a real emotional component to the band's heavier moments, and fleshing that out would be the key, especially when merging it with the poppier, more ear-friendly parts.