Quick Reviews: Bayside & Vanden Plas

Bayside - There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive

What does a mix of emo and nearly metal sound like? That's what Bayside is offering us an example of. Their sound is based in the emo/punk world, but some of the chugging riffs borrow as much from modern metalcore as anything else. The appearance of Ice Nine Kills on "How To Ruin Everything" is a good indicator of what I'm talking about. That makes the album interesting, as it adds a heft to the music you don't always get in these genres, and it plays well with the plaintive vocals belting out the choruses.

The key to making this work is having the hooks to bridge the gap, and Bayside is able to deliver them. With only one exception, they have more pop appeal than what we hear referred to as pop/punk all the time, which only underscores the weakness of that genre, given how Bayside is attacking it from the heavier end. They fit in a unique spot as being more melodic than the metal the guitars pull from, but heavier than the melodic influences the vocals are pulling from. It's a difficult balance, but they mostly pull it off well.

The only negative I can say is that while Bayside is delivering on all of these things, their attitude has elements of the laid-back variety of punk. That means that while the band is heavy and catchy, they also can sound a bit soft and lackadaisical at times. A bit more energy in the performances might have elevated these songs even higher, as the short running time doesn't feel like the sprint it needs to be. This is a good record, but it falls a bit short of reaching excellence.

Vanden Plas - The Empyrean Equation Of The Long Lost Things

It's an interesting experience when a band is promoting a new member, and the best thing you can say is thank heavens he didn't have any impact on the sound. The band is now joined by Alessandro Del Vecchio, who you might know from writing half of the albums the Frontiers label puts out, but he joined Vanden Plas too late to take part in the writing process. I can only call that a good thing, because blanding out the band's sound with the same melodies and note choices as all those other bands and projects would only serve to make Vanden Plas more boring. What is the point of being progressive if you wind up sounding like everyone else?

That means this could be the last Vanden Plas album worth paying attention to, and it sums up everything I've experienced with the band over their career. There is a load of great playing, some solid melodies, and choices like starting out with nearly eight minutes of purely instrumental music that leave me scratching my head. The band doesn't do much to make the music accessible if you aren't already inclined to love prog metal.

Vanden Plas is certainly good at what they do, and I appreciate how they try to lean into adding drama into their songwriting, but the emotion doesn't come through. Between the technical playing, and the histrionics of the vocals, it's a performance that sounds more perfunctory, as if they are going through the motions. I know that any emotion besides anger is difficult to carry through in metal, but music that doesn't have much to grasp onto is harder to enjoy on a deeper level. Vanden Plas is the kind of music that is impressive, but doesn't leave much of an impact beyond that initial nod of the head.