Hellminded Records – June 26, 2020
Jersey super group are less than the sum of their parts.
When you combine current and former members of Deadguy, Ensign, Every Time I Die, The Banner and Nora, there is a level of brutality expected. Second Arrows does not disappoint on their self-titled release. Immediately punching the listener in the face with its musicality and vocals Unfortunately, even though the band has the pedigree and musicianship to rewrite the book on heavy music, they never fully realize their own potential.
Head splitting and violent, it is hard to say if Second Arrows is trying too hard or not hard enough as the album hits all the basic requirements and falls a bit flat. Coming across like a natural athlete who hasn’t read the playbook, this feels like a band spinning its wheels waiting for someone to tell them the next step.
The past work of the band members set the bar high, and Second Arrows never fully achieve their potential. While there is not a bad song on the album, there is also a lack of standout tracks. “Our Grendel” does a great job of showing snippets of brilliance and the multiple styles the band is capable of blending into their music. The three-minute banger has elements of noise, stoner, arena and metalcore put together in a way that tells a story, unlike some of the other songs that seem to want to force the multiple genres into them.
There are a lot of influences poking their way into the musicality, and they are always played well, but in this case the high level assortment of metal on the album is more curse than blessing. As the band continues to find their own way, Second Arrows has the ability to change the landscape of metal, in the meantime, the debut
This album is hard enough to shatter skulls and performed by a band who has mastered their tools and genre, but it lacks the originality one should expect from musicians with resumes like this. This album is chockful of ear-piercing savagery despite its lack of direction, and I recommend everyone give it a shot. Second Arrows may not create anything innovative, but as far as debuts go, they show that the ceiling is high for future releases.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
