Arch Echo – Self Titled
Release Date: 18th May 2017
Record Label: Self Released
Arch Echo are a fusion band made up from Richie Martinez – Drums , Joe Calderone – Bass, Joey Izzo – Keyboards, Adam Rafowitz – Guitar and Adam Bentley – Guitar. The first thing I noticed about the band was the fact they had no vocals which is always quite interesting.
The album starts with Earthshine which starts off a bit odd, the beginning reminded me of vaporwave before the guitars, drum and bass came in which gave a bit of a hardcore kick but then tones back into a vaporwave X pop punk X hardcore kind of song. In all honestly I didn’t like the first song at all, it was very repetitive and not my kind of thing. This continues into the next song called Afterburger however this song is more filled with riffs and breakdowns and was more enjoyable to listen to. The song has a bit of a kick to it but overall it’s not a great song. After that we have Hip Dipper, it has solid drums throughout the song but seemed to change tone a lot, I felt like I was listening to the Wii Sports soundtrack with a bit of a hardcore / pop punk twist. Halfway through comes the song Color Wheel, the start of this song really does sound like the Wii sports soundtrack or maybe a Saturday night game show theme tune. However, then comes in with hard hitting guitar, bass and drums but yet again the song changes it’s beat every 30 seconds to a minute which makes the song a lot harder to get into.
The next song we have is Bloom, it starts off very soft and gentle and continues like that for most of the song and I would compare it to lift music. Again, not a big fan of this song but it does change nearer the end of the song and things get a bit more intense with the drums, bass and guitar but it just doesn’t really fit in with the keyboard. Near the end of the album we have the song Spark, the instruments are played well but again it feels like they are trying to mix maybe Jazz and progressive metal just doesn’t mix making me not such a fan of this song. However, the guitars are spotless throughout and if the guitars, bass and drums were to be isolated this track would be outstanding.
To end the album we have 2 songs which are both called My Head Sometimes and My Heart Sometimes. The songs aren’t awful but are not great again, it made me kind of confused to listen to because it makes you want to headbang to the heavier parts but it’s hard to because of the vaporwave kind of music playing at the same time so you kind of ant to headband kind of want to sway around a bit and chill. I find the two just don’t mix together, however, the breakdowns in these songs are amazing and are easy to get into. The song My Head Sometimes is a lot more hardcore/intense I’d say than the second version which is wavier to say the least.
The album as a whole is a bit of a wild ride, you never know what you’re going to get in each song. So to finish I have to say to go check them out yourself and see what you think, but unfortunately they are not at all my cup of tea. They kind of sound like a djent band covering the Wii sports soundtrack. There are good parts and bad parts to each song but overall I just don’t like the contrast and constant change in each of the songs.
Rating – 3/10
Best Song – My Head Sometimes
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