Grace Hotel
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Album Reviews

Stavesacre truly delivers this time around with a short EP (less than 18 minutes long) in true Stavesacre fashion. The bass lines are driving, the choruses are very climactic, and the vocals are soaring. Lyrically, this is another masterpiece from the mind of Mark Salomon. He paints 4 equally beautiful pictures for the listener to enjoy, hate, cry over, or laugh at.

For me the high point of the album is the title track. Salomon brings what seems to be a political agenda to the table. Lyrics such as "the cost of your overwhelming sense of liberty is always paid in someone else's blood" and "how long have I cowered underneath your sword, your spear, your biting teeth" lead the listener to believe that Stavesacre is not pleased with some of our nation's recent choices.

"Time Honored Tradition" is a beautiful song of unity and waiting for the things this life can offer. For me the low point of the album is "Cloud of Dust." This song just seems to drag, and it also seems to me that we have heard this before; nothing new or special about this song to me.

There always seems to be a song on each CD that just stands out from the others as just being different. Such as "Wither"from Absolutes, "Yes" from their self-titled CD, or "St. Eriksplan" from Speakeasy. On this album, "Handful of Words"stands out to me in the same fashion. It seems like the band was in a different state of mind musically, lyrically, and melodically, when they wrote this song. Don't get me wrong, I think all of these songs are great, but I just think that there is a different air around them.

All in all this is a great EP from Stavesacre. It leaves me on pins and needles, waiting for the full length that will hopefully come soon. I recommend this for fans of The Cure, The Deftones, and, of course, flipping Stavesacre.
 

~ Jason

Let me start this off by saying that I am a huge Stavesacre fan, and I've been one since "Friction" first released 9 years ago. They are simply one of the most underrated bands in music today. An extrememly talented group of musicians. So with that said, here is the review:

The album begins with the firestarter, "Bull Takes Fighter", one of the more aggressive tracks on this cd. Someone or something has ticked off Mark because he is angry! ha. Anyway, this is a great track and it brings back memories of Speakeasy/Friction. The next track, "Time Honored Tradition" is a little more subdued and I guess you could say, my least favorite. The other two tracks "Cloud of Dust" and "Handful of Words" are very strong numbers, especially "Handful of Words". These tracks are full of thick bass tracks, as well as the typical solid Drumming found on other Stavesacre albums. Those of you who were bummed out with the "Self Titled" release on Nitro a few years ago will find a renewed Stavesacre with this album and production that is better by leaps and bounds, then "Self Titled". In fact, just imagine "Self Titled" didn't exist, and that this album followed "Speakeasy", then you get the idea. There isn't a "Gold and Silver" on this ep, but that's only because there are just 4 tracks! The only drawbacks I find on this cd is the short run time and lack of lyrics! If this is a hint at what's to come, then I am certainly in line to buy the next album. Now if only Tooth and Nail will take back Stavesacre and promote them on the same level as Underoath, then the world will know just how talented this group is. BUY IT NOW!

~ Brandon Jones