Jamies Elsewhere - They Said a Storm Was Coming (2010)

Artist: Jamie's Elsewhere

Album: They Said a Storm Was Coming

Date Released: February 16, 2010

Genre: Post-hardcore

Album Review:

Much different than Sinners Turned Saints, Jamie's Elsewhere jumps on the post-hardcore-with-a-synthesizer bandwagon (which I attribute to Attack Attack, but We Came As Romans and Devil Wears Prada are definitely in the mix) to present a brand new, evolved sound. Better screams, better breakdowns, and just downright BETTER. I'm squirming and reluctant to say it's unique, however, seeing that so many bands follow this vein nowadays. Not saying it's bad, just not very original. And yet, the more I listen to it,the more I fall in love with the band, because the lyrics set them apart. I mean, I don't focus on lyrics much because i'm too impatient to decipher them, but this band has an up-front Christian message that hardly disguises itself in the sound.

They grip your ears with strong vocals and a good balance of heavy and ambient. For fans of post-hardcore, and metal in general, this album should definitely make its way into your collection!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Song-by-song:

Seasons: Not sure I like the time it takes to get into this song, as it fades in, but once it's in, it's in for gooooood. Thumbs up as an intro track, and definitely gives a nice summation of the album's sound.

The Mapmaker: Like I said, the vocals resemble your typical post-hardcore band like Blessthefall or Akissforjersey, but this song has such a deep lyrical message, regarding the sad state of this world.

They Said a Storm Was Coming: A nice electronic intro that makes me think: "bangin title track!"....but wait....around 2:40 comes an insanely awesome breakdown to end the song. Good job Jamie!!

Giants Among Common Men: Though I think compressed intros are cliche, this song managed to pull it off. I adore the divebomb around the 40 second mark, and the synth is blaring, but not too forceful.

One Foot in the Grave: slower song of the album, with another deep Christian message: "your grace gives us the second chances we don't deserve"...

The Prodigal: even calmer than One Foot is The Prodigal, most likely dealing with the story found in Luke 15. I like this one a lot, especially the wooden sounding sequencer in the back.

Visons in Sleep: more compression and fade-ins......all right, i'll take it. The awesome scream in the beginning makes up for it. Nice guitar sweeps around 2:10 and on, this song is very melodic but also one of the heavier songs.

Wolves: Strong from start to finish. Not much more I can say about the song, you know me and my attention span.

A Slave, a Son: The attention span is messing with me, because I feel the vocals are all sounding the same...WHOA...the scream at 1:20 deserves some hand clapping.

The Lighthouse: The synth and dissonant chords sound very good together, giving you a feeling of struggle and peace at once. This song has beautiful lyrics, from the Psalms declaring God's glory. If anything, I love this band for their message.

Antithesis: a great intro, one of the strongest on the album (cuz I heart breakdowns, yay for me). Perfect ending track. My favorite because of how well this song is done.