Adelphia

Album Review

The Lodi, CA band A Skylit Drive's second album Adelphia distinguishes itself from the screamo metal pack in a couple of important ways. Though they display plenty of power in the rhythm section and sport dual guitarists who have plenty of crunching riffage between them, the songs actually have huge hooks that soar and swoop in ways that aren't dissimilar to pop music. They also add various keyboards to the mix, from symphonic synth washes to Coldplay-ish piano, which adds extra prog rock texture to the band's sound. And there is a strong element of prog to the band's sound; you can hear the influence of bands like Coheed & Cambria and Queensrÿche in the scope and vision of the songs. The most important factor in the band's sound, though, is singer Michael "Jag" Jagmin. His unbelievable high vocals call to mind Geddy Lee on first listen, also on every repeated listen! It's an uncanny resemblance, but once the shock wears off, it's easy to be impressed with both how elastic his voice is and also the amount of emotion and power Jagmin transmits throughout the album. Too bad the band spoils it somewhat by throwing in lots of screamo and death metal grunting and howling. These touches don't add any menace or ferocity, mostly they just distract from the unearthly sound of everything else on Adelphia. If you can overlook this one minor misstep, the album is a successful attempt at creating something epic and new out of some everyday materials.