The Fall of Troy's latest outing on Equal Vision Records is a passionate album, including four tracks that were rerecorded from their debut album (on Lujo Records), three demo songs, and four new tracks. While this band is only a 3-piece, one would never know if from listening, as the tracks are well layered and full.The album starts out intense, with a punch right from the beginning. Unfortunately, the band seems to lack decent vocals, bouncing back and forth between a shrieking, and at times, irritating, scream, to a melodic punk tone. The band could probably pull off, and be better off, sticking with a melodic singing voice over these tracks, but not doing so takes away some of the enjoyment that could be had throughout the cd.
Musically, Doppelganger has some good chops, with some driving guitar riffs and grooving basslines. The problem, however, is twofold. The first, and most pressing issue, is that the album is just that-an album full of riffs. They may have been more successful with this outing (at least with the new songs) had they stuck with refining those riffs into memorable songs. But what you end up with is a riff here, and a riff there, with no real cohesiveness to the album overall. Secondly, the tracks from time to time seem a bit too 'busy', as if the band couldn't really hammer out when to let loose, and when to hold back a little bit.
The one thing the band does have going for it, however, is that they are young (the recorded their Lujo Records debut before their 17th birthdays), and there is enough raw talent here that, if honed the right way, could make way for them to release some solid material in the near future. Unfortunately, this outing falls just short of that. Fans of the band will probably find this an enjoyable cd, while potential 'new' fans may find the band a bit harder to wrap themselves around, at least for the time being.
