Farewell to Freeway: Filthy Habits
Nearly every band that ascribes to the metalcore genre sounds exactly the same to me; there is usually a strong rhythm section overlaid with heavy guitars accompanied by screamed verse vocals and sung chorus vocals. Deviation from this formula is rare but deviation is the only way to stand out in my opinion. Farewell to Freeway‘s new album, Filthy Habits, attempts to stand out from the overcrowded metalcore scene.
But to Farewell to Freeway, their idea of standing out is not to deviate from form but rather to not jump on the latest trends in the genre. Modern metalcore has evolved and now over embraces electronics. The crisp vocals that once dominated metalcore have now been autotuned to the max. The violent and brutal drumbeats of the genre have been getting unnatural enhancement with the help of techno beats. The heavy guitars of the genres also get a helping hand from synths.
Farewell to Freeway seems to shun all of these new fads; instead they embrace an old school form of the genre taking obvious cues from bands like Converge and Botch. Going back to genre’s roots actually makes the album refreshing. Tracks like “Top Gun” show off the group’s technical proficiency; it reminds me of bands like the Dillinger Escape Plan.
Unfortunately the group embraces the time honored trend of the genre of having ridiculous name for songs. I do not know why someone would want to listen to a super heavy song with an embarrassing title like “Liquor? I Don’t Even Know ‘Er” or “Token Ain’t Weezy.” But besides the bad song titles, the album is pretty good. As I said, not embracing modern trends makes the band stand out somewhat but it does not necessarily deviate them enough from the competition. In the end, I’m afraid Farewell to Freeway may just get lost in the shuffle.
Rating: 6.1/10
MP3: Farewell to Freeway “Top Gun”
Buy: iTunes or Amazon
Farewell to Freeway: Filthy Habits
