{"id":10666,"date":"2013-01-08T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T00:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=10666"},"modified":"2013-06-01T14:44:56","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T14:44:56","slug":"album-review-black-veil-brides-wretched-and-divine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-black-veil-brides-wretched-and-divine\/","title":{"rendered":"BLACK VEIL BRIDES – Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

BLACK VEIL BRIDES
Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nLava \/ Universal Republic (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Hollywood, California\u2019s Black Veil Brides has been challenging the status quo since their debut hit the scene in 2010. We Stitch These Wounds<\/em> roared from stereos, and brought melody and rebellion to the masses.<\/p>\n

With a look that hearkens back to early M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce<\/a> or W.A.S.P. and a grasp of both heaviness and melody, Black Veil Brides has created a sound and an image that is a rallying cry to metalheads everywhere. Add to this incredibly talent musicians, and the end result is a band that is making metal as dangerous as it was back when W.A.S.P. and Ozzy Osbourne were leading kids astray. Good times, they were. <\/p>\n

Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones<\/em> is Black Veil Brides\u2019 third full-length album. In an ambitious move, this release takes on the rock opera format, telling the story of The Wild Ones. In a world where an oppressive global government has full control, The Wild Ones live on the fringe of society, and lead the resistance against tyranny. The concept fits well with Black Veil Brides\u2019 aggressive image and music. For a band who sounds like a rebellious battle cry, an album about a group of outsiders rebelling against the system seems a perfect fit. <\/p>\n

Musically, Wretched And Divine<\/em> is an engaging listen. As the album opens, keyboards and a short spoken word piece set up the theme of spirituality that underpins much of the lyrics. Several of these short interludes exist between songs, mixing keyboards and violins with statements from the government and apocalyptic spiritual proclamations reminiscent of what was heard in the Zeitgeist movies in recent years.<\/p>\n

The music itself is lush and full. Classic metal riffs are married with Linkin Park-style keyboard and programming moments and ferocious drumming that brings out hardcore and metalcore influences. In particular, lead guitarist Jake Pitts plays with virtuosity that is reminiscent of a young Yngwie Malmsteen. The fluidity and speed of Pitts\u2019 solos is a rare find. <\/p>\n

The first full track featuring the full band is \u2018I Am Bulletproof\u2019. A short piano introduction leads to a guitar driven piece that immediately reminds me of the best bands in the 80s glam scene. When vocalist Andy Biersack begins singing the first verse, the furious guitars calm down to a seething undercurrent, allowing the vocals to shine. This sets the tone for much of the album. Songs burn with intensity, giving way to melody, only to burn all the brighter at the next vocal break. \u2018I Am Bulletproof\u2019 moves directly into \u2018New Year\u2019s Day\u2019, a song that mixes proto-industrial percussion loops into a metal anthem atmosphere. The title track mixes the intensity of Marilyn Manson<\/a> with the pop metal mastery of M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce. <\/p>\n

My only criticism of this release is that it\u2019s a full album of anthems. Nearly every song is a huge, arena rock, crowd rallying anthem. Is this bad? Not at all. With the exception of the Pink Floyd-style ballad \u2018Done For You\u2019 and the introspective, piano based \u2018Lost It All\u2019, every song is a fist pumping, headbanging anthem. The positive side of this is that it makes for an album that invites the listener to be involved in the music. Everyone who\u2019s ever felt like an outsider can feel the power of \u2018We Don\u2019t Belong\u2019 and chant along: \u201cIt\u2019s the anthem of the underground, so get back up when they push you down!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The W.A.S.P.-esque riff of \u2018Days Are Numbered\u2019 leads into a sing-along chorus that connects with the desire to rise above the mundane experience of daily life. Black Veil Brides take the yearnings of mankind, and build them into the kind of anthems that can bring an arena full of fans to their feet, as a single organism. <\/p>\n

Modern metal often seems to rehash old formulas, or throw out classic sounds to forge ahead. Black Veil Brides is one of the bands that has come along to challenge these approaches.<\/p>\n

Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones<\/em> is full of fresh sounds steeped in heavy metal tradition. Fans of 80s metal will find much about the music they love, and modern metal fans will connect with the power and fury of these songs. While the anthem after anthem approach can make the album seem like a one-sided listen, it\u2019s one hell of a side. Black Veil Brides have landed mere inches from perfection on this release. <\/p>\n

Jim McDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BLACK VEIL BRIDESWretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones Lava \/ Universal Republic (2013)Rating: 9\/10 Hollywood, California\u2019s Black Veil Brides has been challenging the status quo since their debut hit the scene in 2010. We Stitch These Wounds roared from stereos, and brought melody and rebellion to the masses. With a look that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-black-veil-brides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10666"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12076,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10666\/revisions\/12076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}