Michigan-based screamo band
I Am Abomination seem a little less solipsistic than their peers on their full-length debut,
To Our Forefathers. The first song is called "1776" and features marching drums and mournful, cinematic strings on the coda; similarly, track titles like "Thoughtcrime Is Death" and "The Deceiver" imply at least a rudimentary political consciousness, which puts them well ahead of bands that spend their time whining about the girls who done them wrong. Musically, though, they're just part of the herd; they pump out the same mixture of soaring guitar riffs and in-vogue-circa-2010 synths and Auto-Tuned vocals, with some metallic drumming in back, that a hundred other young bands have saturated the market with. The expected breakdowns and the occasional shredding guitar solo liven things up a little, bringing in an '80s metal vibe. Fans of bands like
I See Stars and
Blessed by a Broken Heart will find much to like on this album, but not much they haven't heard before. ~ Phil Freeman