IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT

Like much artistic post-hardcore I have heard, my impression is often that of a mixed bag; although I sometimes find myself endeared to some of the musical aspects, other things tend to really deter from what would have otherwise been a very enjoyable experience. American power prog trio The Fall Of Troy is no exception to this rule. 'In The Unlikely Event' is the band's fourth and final record they released before deciding to call it quits, and for the fans of the band's style, it should not disappoint. Taking their technical approach towards post-hardcore for one last spin, they do not end things on their brightest note, but there enough things to like about the music here to be worth a spin for someone that's not entirely opposed to the style of music that the band plays.

I've never been entirely convinced by the music of The Fall Of Troy, often likening them to being a 'poor man's Coheed & Cambria', but 'In The Unlikely Event' does show that the band has the chops to stand on their own. Defined by the frenetic guitar playing of frontman Thomas Erak, many of the riffs here resound of much of the stuff happening in the mathcore scene, and manage to impress both on a technical level, and a weird sense of guitar experimentation easily reminiscent of Tom Morello, of Rage Against The Machine. Most of the songs here are upbeat, technical, at times noisy, and made melodic only by the higher- register vocal work of Erak, which is a very mixed bag. Although he is certainly a skilled singer for what he does, there are time when it feels he strains his voice too much, which ends up equating to sounding like something more akin to an adolescent wail than the frontman of a band who has been around for the better part of a decade. The screams here are fairly intermittent and sparse, but they are much less successful; always sounding fairly screechy and tending to ruin most of the parts they lead.

The songwriting here is inconsistent at best, ranging from rather noisy and aimless messes like 'Straight-Jacket Keelhauled' to more melodic success in the aptly-titled 'Single' and the surprisingly effective ballad track 'Webs'. It often feels though that in their attempt to make things sound dissonant and technical, they do lose some of the magic, and what melodic aspects they do try to incorporate often feel a bit weak. One of my favourite aspects of The Fall Of Troy's music is their highly technical approach to crafting riffs, but it does feel as if they needed to work the complexity in a little better to work with the melodies. The end result is something that lacks a memorable impact, leaving only a couple of tracks active in the listener's imagination after the album stops rolling.

I find myself impressed by some of the stuff heard on 'In The Unlikely Event', but it still feels as if The Fall Of Troy lacked some tightness on their swansong record. In any case, the band was one of the better post-hardcore acts of the '00s decade, and their fourth album does nothing to tarnish their reputation. I can only imagine that those who find that the band suits their personal tastes more will find much more to appreciate here than I did.

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