A STATIC LULLABY

"Static" defined: "lacking movement, development, or vitality". What about the definition of lullaby? A "song used to lull a child to sleep; cradlesong" (Thank www.dictionary.com for the definitions). Get the picture? There was a time when I could stomach some of the bands playing this brand of sugar coated grow-n-croon "metal", based on a some searing guitar work and catchy melodies. ATREYU at least seemed to be on to something at one time. And I'm not above appreciating the better bands of the genre, and now and then I'll come across one that's pretty darn good. But now the blandness of it all makes it difficult to find much of value, unless you're one of those Hot Topic-loving, too-tight-clothes-wearing mall kids that thinks he knows what he's talking about when he utters terms like "hardcore."

As far as the style goes, A STATIC LULLABY seems to be composed of good songwriters, that is, if you go for this kind of thing. It's too bad that it all begins to run together after the third song. Sure there is a good bit of tough rhythms and above averaging riffing. The problem is that every time those soaring melodic vocals kick in (which happens all over the disc) the album falls into a pit made up of every emo metalcore band you've ever heard. In this case, those sweet-tooth choruses detract from any chance that the otherwise rockin' material has to make a permanent impact. Comparatively speaking, the melodies are quite catchy, but nothing that ever made me stand up and say, "wow, I can't get that chorus out of my head," and that includes album opener "Hang 'em High". Then again, when you can't get past the vanilla flavoring, other tastes don't stand a chance.

In an extremely difficult attempt to be fair here, how does this self-titled release stack up against the wave of imitators? It is probably better than average for the style. That still won't keep me from giving it a generous rating of 4.5; hey, at least the boys are good at what they do, even if nausea is what I get out of it. Regardless, expect this one to sell tons of copies. Sorry if the review causes your mascara to run, but I can't be anything less than honest here. Give it a rating of 7.5 if you can't get enough of this teen-dream fare.