Feed Her to the Sharks: Fortitude

Fortitude: a word used to describe bravery and willingness to confront adversity and intimidation. It's a word commonly associated with strength and overcoming elements of negativity. And you know what? That sounds promising! On paper, this sounds like a great well of lyrical concepts to draw from; it could make for a neat concept, as well as the groundwork for a varied musical experience. Unfortunately, all one needs to refute this promise is to look at the name of the band that used such a title: Feed Her to the Sharks. In one fell swoop, all hope for a more unique metalcore experience has turned into fear of another hopelessly generic one. Now, I'm not one to judge a band entirely on their name alone, but an unimaginative and juvenile name like Feed Her to the Sharks really didn't make defending this band any easier.

Sadly, the music doesn't help either. No, what we have here is yet another Australian clone of other successful melodic metalcore groups like As I Lay Dying and Parkway Drive. While the musicianship is very tight, instrumental proficiency isn't as relevant when the music lacks this much originality. Right from the predictable thrashy tempo and one-note breakdown of opener "The World is Yours" to the bland anthemic closer "Let Go," Fortitude does nothing to distance itself apart from the band's often superior contemporaries. The band should perhaps be credited for incorporating keyboards into the mix to shake things up, but they're often poorly placed and serve to clutter up the production. Songs like "Walking on Glass" and "Burn the Traitor" are actually two of the best songs on the album in terms of composition and consistency, and yet the synthesizers that permeate their intros are completely corny and only serve to drive potential listeners away. Then there's "Chasing Glory," whose dance pop-esque synthesizers and bland clean vocals ruin the entire experience, not just a chunk of it.

It's sad too, because it's not like this album wasn't unsalvageable. There are certainly some cool ideas at work here, such as the utterly amazing Middle Eastern-sounding guitar solo in the aforementioned "Walking the Glass" or the neat guitar harmonies that adorn the fast double bass-laden anthem "Fear of Failure." These are just mere glimpses of the potential that Fortitude had, but they really do help salvage it to an extent. Well, that and the crisp production as well as the spot-on musicianship. But in the end, the big problem here is the songwriting. Nothing in this album stands out in an already-overcrowded genre, and most of the songs just run together after a while. There's not much else to say; if you just can't get enough of the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal)-influenced metalcore acts and need a quick fix, this will fit the bill. If you want something fresher and more original, move along.

Tracklist:
1. The World Is Yours
2. Chasing Glory
3. Burn The Traitor
4. Shadow Of Myself
5. Terrorist
6. Heart Of Stone
7. Walking On Glass
8. Fear Of Failure
9. Faithless
10. Badass
11. Let Go

Added: March 20th 2015
Reviewer: Brendan Schroer
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1853
Language: english

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