First and foremost, massive improvement from their debut Ekklesia and whilst For Today show growth in their musical capabilities they are some way off the top of the mound in the metalcore circles, even the Christian ones.They continue to build on their solid foundation of choice influences, taking the stutter and lurch of most modern day metalcore (set in stone by the likes of BTBAM, Unearth, etc, etc) and fuse it with generous lashings of intricate melody (ala Misery Signals, Shai Hulud and August Burns Red). It’s not quite a lazy selection and dissection of their peers’ masterworks but their framework is heavily indebted to them, fortunately they employ enough girth in their delivery and skill to have Portraits rise above being a banal copy and paste of the best metalcore moments of the last 7 years.
Clearly this is an expected outcome when you have quite possibly the uber-metalcore producer (Jamie King) on board and then even have the services of Dustie Waring (BTBAM) who lends his sumptuous meanderings to Benedictus (Song of Zeehariah). Admittedly it’s not that easy to pick highlights throughout the duration of Portraits. Each piece chugs, shimmers and bites with equal proportion and vigour never slothful in its approach but never either quite reaching that peak of brilliance that sends that tingling sensation down your spine.
I feel I’ve made For Today sound like a brilliant covers band more capable in selecting the best moments of others and concentrating on making those sound more vibrant rather than conceiving their own creations but this is not the case. There is plenty of talent in this North Carolina quintet for something more unique and their own waiting to be created and if they make the progression that on their next opus that they have done from their debut to Portraits then that will be most certainly realised.
[Visit the band's website]Find more articles with 2009, Benjamin DeBlasi, Facedown Records, For Today, Review
Comments
Leave a Reply
Not to be a douche… But holy run-on sentences. This review was genuinely hard to follow.
on Jul 7th, 2009 at 13:29Not at all man! Thanks for the feedback, all comments welcome!
on Jul 7th, 2009 at 14:00The band is not from North Carolina, as you stated…
They’re from Iowa! Where did NC come from?
on Jul 10th, 2009 at 15:20I actually really like this band and i like that this band’s message is a lot more akin to early christian hardcore bands that actually had a strong message(Strongarm, Focused, Unashamed). The music here, while not very original, is at least really catchy and memorable(i think they sound like a combination of BTBAM and First Blood). I am a fan of this band as a whole, musically, vocally, lyrically, etc…and i can’t wait for their new record to come out.
on Sep 2nd, 2010 at 17:57David, I have no idea! I think it was the BTBAM comparison I made, it had me convinced they were from that part of the world, my idiocy entirely. Mike, I’m interested in the new album, I think it’s going to be a good one, thanks both for commenting and sorry to David for taking over a year to respond.
on Sep 4th, 2010 at 03:59