Tracing Back Roots - We Came As Romans

We Came As Romans was one of the first bands in the hardcore scene that I began listening to, and I loved their sound and style from the moment I heard them. Their vocal interplay, their breakdowns, and their infusion of electronic sounds had me hooked. I very much enjoyed their last album, Understanding What We've Grown To Be, and was excited when I heard about their latest record, Tracing Back Roots. I got the lead single, also named "Tracing Back Roots", when it released a couple months ago. On first listen, I wasn't as impressed, but once I hit the outro, the entire song became immensely better. The first part of the song consists of David Stephens screaming over the instrumental, which is constantly switching between a fast pace and a breakdown style. By itself, it's well done and sounds good, but it's the outro that really makes the song come to life. Kyle Pavone, the group's "clean" vocalist, comes in as the rest of the track fades out, and his lyrics and vocals help to turn the rest of the song into an uplifting anthem. It's one of my favorite moments of the album, and something that We Came As Romans seems to have gotten down quite well.

But as far the album as a whole, I enjoyed a few things specifically. One, the introduction of David Stephens on "clean" vocals, which I liked greatly and thought it served to further their diverse vocal sound. A prime example of this is on the track "Fade Away", which is one of my personal favorites from the album. His new vocals retain a gritty feel, but allow the song to stray away from the typical hardcore sound and fit more into the rock vein. This song also follows the anthem formula WCAR has perfected, with lyrics like "I won't fade away, like the ones before, I won't let you down". They never fail to inspire with their songs, taking a generalized genre and proving the critics wrong. Another song along these lines is "Never Let Me Go", which alternates between quieter verses and driving chorus where Kyle and David alternate crying out for someone to never let them go. It's a very heartfelt song, but also has a bite to it. The second thing I enjoyed about the album is how, for the most part, the songs tended to stick to a more typical song structure, meaning it goes from a verse to a chorus, verse to chorus, bridge to chorus. I'm all for being different and going outside the lines, but it also helps for being able to follow along and focus into the song when it has a noticeable pattern.

A stand out track from the album was the more mellow "I Survive", an electronic-beat led song that features heavy veteran Aaron Gillespie. His addition to the track not only make it an awesome song, but show how far WCAR have come in the last few years; the fact that they have a seasoned singer on one of their songs reveals their rise in the scene. The song itself is another anthem, inspiring visions of a crowd with fists raised and screaming back "I survive!".

Now, nothing can be perfect. There were a few things with the album that weren't bad, but that I had slight problems with. One was the depth of the sound; something I enjoyed immensely about their last album was the huge sound they created. The songs had a 3 dimensional sound to them, whereas on Tracing Back Roots, most of the songs feel more 2 dimensional. That's not a bad thing, and not saying that the songs were bad in any sense, but just a preference I had about the sound. The other thing that I noticed was that the songs weren't as heavy as their previous material. They definitely had plenty of screaming, breakdowns, and blistering drums backing roaring guitars, but it also strayed more towards a rock sound as well. That does not mean they had no heavy songs though; "Present, Future And Past" is a fantastic example of this, and is also one of my favorites from the album. I can see this being a crowd favorite, with lots of headbanging and jumping around. David leads the first part of the song, screaming his lungs out over furious guitars and pounding drums, which sounds fantastic. My favorite part is the bridge/outro, where Kyle kicks in on vocals to lead the song from a brief mellow section into something truly epic. The song ends how it started, with David howling over the intense instrumental. Another of the heavier tracks was the final song, "Through The Darkest Dark, and Brightest Bright", which has all the great makings of a WCAR song.

All in all, a very solid album from a group that is set to leave their mark on the world. This album shows their ability to continue to mature as a band, and the potential they contain. Looking forward to more from these fine gents! 4/5

Track-list:
Tracing Back Roots - 3:40 (5/5)
Fade Away - 3:46 (5/5)
I Survive - 4:09 (5/5)
Ghosts - 3:28 (4/5)
Present, Future, and Past - 3:28 (5/5)
Never Let Me Go - 3:38 (5/5)
Hope - 4:09 (5/5)
Tell Me Now - 3:16 (5/5)
A Moment - 3:50 (4/5)
I Am Free - 3:33(4/5)
Through the Darkest Dark and Brightest Bright - 3:45 (4/5)