Four Letter Lie - What a Terrible Thing to Say
Record Label: Victory Records
Release Date: February 19, 2008
Screamo (or whatever the hell you want to call it) is like candy to me. I know it’s bad for me and it has no substantial value at all, I still can find enjoyment in some releases in the genre. Four Letter Lie’s sophomore effort, What A Terrible Thing To Say, is no exception. And while their Victory debut, Let Your Body Take Over saw decent success and moderate praise from the press, the St. Paul, Minnesota quintet aim to cement their place in today’s fickle scene.
While the album is nothing you haven’t heard before, largely drawing influences from Underoath and the like, it’s still an enjoyable listen. The vocals are bearable, as is the screaming, and the hooks are catchy enough to stick in your head for an extended visit. “Cake Eater” (a nice homage to the Mighty Ducks movies) opens the album up with crunchy riffs, while the title track is easily the best song on the album. It finds a nice balance between metal and melodic and gets your head banging. The atmospheric outro is a nice touch as well. But some of the biggest flaws come before and after that track, as a good handful start to blend with each other and you’re confused that the song title changed even though the music sounds eerily familiar. “I Don’t Speak To Dead Men” is a powerful song, and the album closer “Charlatan” definitely tries to follow in the ambient metal sound and finds moderate success in it.
The major downfall, as with the majority of releases within this genre, is that the album falls into monotony too often. Add in the fact that there is very little that separates Four Letter Lie from the rest of the pack and you have yourself a fun but ultimately forgettable album. It has solid musicianship, solid vocals, and average lyrics, so it is by no means a terrible album, but it is done up in the same tired formula that’ll be tossed aside in a few weeks by this ADD-riddled scene. If you enjoy Underoath or any band of that sort, then What A Terrible Thing To Say could be right up your alley. Just don’t expect it to stay in constant rotation for more than a few weeks.
only song i liked on this album was (expectedly) "think of your favorite place" everything else i just find kinda blah. which disappoints me, i really liked the first album.
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