Background: I can't talk about this and just leave all of you in the dark if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Woe, is Me is a metalcore band who's reissue of their debut album I reviewed briefly. Since their first album all but 2 original members left. First it was Tyler Carter, the clean vocalist, then the screamer, bassist and keyboardist all left. Woe, is Me trucked on and found replacements for all, notably Hance Alligood taking over clean vocals and Doraino Magliano from That's Outrageous. The four members that left ended up forming their own band, Issues. The bad blood has been obvious and it was only a matter of time until the new Woe, is Me and Issues dropped their first singles, and here we are.
Briefing: Let's talk Woe, is Me first. First off, after Carter left the band recorded "Vengeance" which tore Carter apart. Then the other 3 members left. So this bad blood had started back in 2011 and we already have a track taking shots at people. This feud reminds me of rap feuds where the bad blood between members causes them to release songs about each other which I think could be good for metal to.
Woe, is Me: Woe, is Me released "I've Told You Once" and the song takes a djent influence to it and reminds one of Attack Attack!'s latest album. Hance sounds good though it does sound like he may be autotuning a little bit. The lyrics don't take specific shots like I thought they would, in "Vengeance" they references Carter's lyrics and all that so I expected more lyrically. Instrumentally I liked it, it sounded nice and heavy. Doriano sounds a lot better on this track than he did on any That's Outrageous track which makes you scratch your head. My gripe with old Woe, is Me is that it sounded too sporadic and this track sounds more focused which helps but overall the song just isn't that great.
Issues: Issues released "King of Amarillo" and what I was most surprised at was how similar they sounded, this song also has some djent. Lyrically they take rap influenced shots at Woe, is Me: "If you don't like these lyrics then go listen to Genesis Sega. We ain't playin' games, you took demise we'll take the fame", which takes shots at the title of Woe, is Me's album title and at the track "Fame > Demise". So Issues wins in the lyric department. The instrumentation is very similar but on this track it packs more of a punch. Vocals all around are phenomenal, Tyler sounds as spectacular as he always does.
So Who Won This Round?
Lyrics: Issues
Instrumentation: Slight edge to Issues
Vocals: Issues
Overall: I hope these 2 tracks are really the only that have to do with the other bands. Diss tracks are cool but you can't make it an entire album/EP, some of the greatest diss tracks were the only ones on the album. 2Pac's "Hit 'Em Up" was never even on an album, Nas' "Ether" was surrounded by 17 other topic tracks and Eminem's "The Warning" was only on a mixtape. What I'm getting at is that I hope they're both just using these tracks to pump each band's fans up for their own albums. Also, to the people saying that this is childish, it's not, it makes for good songs and interesting lyrics, and it was also the label, Rise Records in this case, decision to release the singles on the same day even though the bands could push which songs became lead singles. Based solely on this 2 tracks I'm more excited for the Issues debut over the Woe, is Me sophomore album.
And yes, I will review both albums when they drop.
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