Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
What was once fresh and novel to the ears can, in time, find itself to become languid and uninspiring. This is not always the fault of the artist, but instead how our senses manipulate the emotional response to anything that may appear to have lost the reason in which to surprise or even perhaps garner the thrill of the profoundly exciting.
This response is the antithesis of the art of the Progressive, and whilst not all music for example will ever fit conveniently into that broad church box, it stands to reason that all bands progress, they move forward, even change direction, but until the songs stop coming, they never truly fall backwards, they never regress; it is only our belief in them to stir our own senses that ultimately turns flat and even retreats from view.
It is The Bitter Pill that all artists must contemplate swallowing at some point, and even in the face of a wonderfully produced album with some seriously cool experiments in vocal and music application, the feeling of the pill dissolving on the tongue of Amy Lee and her fellow band mates that make up Evanescence is perhaps more acute than ever, and yet as has previously been explained, not for the reason of how the music sounds.
Thankfully, Amy Lee is resilient, she is a fighter, and having already seen the band’s dynamics alter with several members departing and being replaced, it is the art of the progressive soul that keeps on making Evanescence a band to appreciate what they are applying and putting down on record.
The Bitter Pill is actually one of positivity, yes, the songs are crafted and placed into the arena of frustrations, virulent outbursts which exemplify the outpouring of grief and the anger that goes hand in hand with the subtleties of love, but they remain positive, progressive in their stance and actively constructive in their delivery; and in tracks such as Broken Pieces Shine, Feeding The Dark, Take Cover, Far From Heaven and the finale of Blind Belief, Amy Lee, Troy McLawhorn, Jen Majua, Tim McCord and Will Hunt express the desire and personal dominance with force and encouraging groove.
Life perhaps is a bitter pill; we struggle to stay afloat through others who believe we are no longer relevant just because they have tuned themselves out from the frequency we have dialled into. For Evanescence it is up to others to find the way back to the moment where the static in the ears is removed and the belief in the purity of angst and settlement is heard once more; it is a pill that will make the world seem clearer.
Ian D. Hall