It isn't hard to see why some folks might confuse Poughkeepsie, NY's
Bless the Fallen with Phoenix, AZ's
blessthefall. They have very similar (though not identical) names, both are part of screamo, and both bands have had members named Michael (Mike Frisby in Phoenix's
blessthefall and Mikey Fraleigh in Poughkeepsie's
Bless the Fallen). But they are definitely two different bands. A press release that Crash Music sent out with
The Eclectic Sounds of a City Painted Black & White (the Poughkeepsie combo's first full-length album) describes
Bless the Fallen as a band that is "swimming in the veins of influences as diverse as
Pantera,
Pink Floyd, and
Iron Maiden," but truth be told, there is nothing on
The Eclectic Sounds of a City Painted Black & White that gives any indication of these Poughkeepsie residents having such a wide variety of influences. This 46-minute disc offers a screamo/metalcore blend that contains occasional hints of death metal and black metal, and two of screamo's main ingredients are present: swirling guitars, and an extreme vocals/clean vocals contrast. However, Fraleigh's screaming vocals are dominant, and there are times when this CD downplays the screamo component and becomes all-out metalcore. ~ Alex Henderson