I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like bands that did the sing/scream thing, but I am getting a bit tired of the genre and especially those bands who do it in such a lazy way. Gwen Stacy – so named after Spiderman’s first girlfriend – are at times fantastic. The gang vocals in ‘I Was Born With two First Names’ and the chorus in ‘The Path To Certainty’ are both excellent. But it’s so inconsistent in terms of just how good it is. It goes from being violent and accessible at the same time to dull and boring by the next song. And while those people who like A Day To Remember and bands of that ilk will get some joy out of this record, I just cannot see any long-term listening to it.
The abrasive vocals stick out on ‘If We Live Right, We Can’t Die Wrong’, while “The Fear In Your Eyes” is another belter. But overall this album just needs to be broken up a little better; the breakdowns sound repetitive and the melodies aren’t strong enough on the whole to carry through 12 songs. That said, this is a passionate, well-produced record and is worth a short-term listen at the very least.