Pierce The Veil Impresses with Selfish Machines

Pierce The Veil has always been the ‘wonder' band of the current music scene—while being categorized in the black hole of bands known as the modern ‘post-hardcore' genre, the band's first full-length, 2007's A Flair for The Dramatic, quickly set them apart from other bands in said genre. By combining hardcore breakdowns, stellar vocals, and an overall sound that bordered theatric rather than mosh pit, Pierce The Veil's first foray into the genre, not including their previous releases under the name Before Today, impressed many viewers and garnered them a huge fan base.

Selfish Machines, Pierce The Veil's follow up to their outstanding 2007 debut, aims to expand upon the sound that made the band so widely popular. While this album could have easily slipped into sophomore slump territory, Selfish Machines easily surpasses A Flair for The Dramatic in terms of resonance and technique—though there are some mess-ups along the way, Selfish Machines easily outshines Pierce The Veil's debut.

High-octane would be the best way to describe most of Selfish Machines. The first half of the album starts off on a loud note with songs like ‘Besitos' and ‘The Boy Who Could Fly,' which come at the listener with full-force and jump into catchy choruses and shredding breakdowns—these are the songs that will be sure to be crowd favorites when played live. ‘Caraphernelia,' featuring vocals from A Day To Remember's Jeremy McKinnon, is a highlight of the album, as Vic Fuentes and McKinnon's two distinct voices are a great contrast to each other.

Selfish Machines continues into the second half of the album that is much more experimental in nature. ‘Fast Times at Clairemont High' and ‘Bulletproof Love' start to veer into a level of pop that one would not expect from Pierce The Veil. ‘Fast Times…' starts off very awkwardly but gets better as it goes along, but Bulletproof Love is a low point of the album—Pierce The Veil sounds much better as a rougher-sounding band and not as a knock-off of a typical pop-punk band. ‘Stay Away From My Friends' dips into Pierce The Veil's ballad side, and while it is somewhat unexpected, the song works really well for the band.

Lead vocalist/guitarist Vic Fuentes' voice is one of the better examples of voices in the genre. While Craig Owens (ex-Chiodos) and Jonny Craig (Emarosa) are vocal powerhouses and may be more known than Fuentes in terms of vocals, Fuentes proves that he is not vocally challenged throughout the entire album—this boy can sing. This is why listeners my cringe upon playing ‘Million Dollar Houses (The Painter)' for the first time, as it brings in the very much-unneeded element of Auto-Tune into the mix.

The album ends much like how it starts, with ‘The Sky Under The Sea' blasting at the listener. This comes as no surprise though, as Pierce The Veil is definitely at its comfort zone when they are throwing down epic guitars, in-your-face vocals, and breakdowns that may just rip off someone's face off if they are not careful.

Selfish Machines is an album that any Pierce The Veil fan should already have, and any music lover that enjoys some rougher sounds should make sure to get this CD as soon as possible. The band's innate nature to experiment with different type of sounds shines through in this album, and for the most part, it works. While some parts of the album aren't that great (note to the band: Please, don't turn into a hardcore version of Ke$ha!), the rest of the album is definitely a treat for listeners and is easily recommended.

Catch the boys in Pierce The Veil at Warped Tour 2010! They are guaranteed to put on an awesome show.