Fall River "Lights Out" (Thorp)
By Kenny Irwin
Tuesday. Jan 17, 12:02 AM
Quick, fast changing hardcore/metal.

Fall River are a four-piece heavy rock and roll band from southeastern PA, leaning more toward the hardcore vein with metallic riffage and yelping screams from a pissed off female. This is where a lot of people go “whaaaa? A girl?” But as most of you knowledgeable readers already know, there are a ton of other female screamers out there setting the stage and opening narrow minds around the world... which is dope!

Lights Out came out this past fall and was mixed by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis). The album features guest vocals by Sean Ingram of Coalesce on “I’m Not a Big Fan of Parentheses (Burn, Baby, Burn)," which is a short, brutal song. Fall River have come along way since forming in 2003 after their first project, Manhunt, disbanded, playing shows right away and coming out with both a demo and an EP (2448724 on Teishu). Through hard work and a ton of touring, both releases sold really well, so they combined them on one album called Chronicles complete with new artwork and an added song.

I think Fall River and Lights Out are good but not great. Some of it's just not that original. Combining the same ol' fast time changes with heavy breakdown rhythms, some of the riffs are sweet and some changes are cool, but just not that unique and have been done and heard a bunch before. Singer Alison Bellavance has a great scream/yelp, but it can be a bit repetitive on every song. Even when you hear the changes or switch ups from the quick to the slow jams, her voice stays at the same level of pitch and delivery. Sometimes there are a bit more distortion, but it’s still the same "attack," which can bring the band down sometimes. On the other hand, her lyrics are great and not your typical whiny hardcore fodder, singing about some stupid asshole relationship. Actually, while on the topic, can all you boring hardcore singers please stop writing relationship songs PLEASE? A great sample taken from “My Heart, the Beggar” reads “my heart, the beggar, she calls your name again. There’s no rest, no peace, just tears and wringing hands” inspired by Fall River, MA's own murderer Lizzie Borden.

The riffs the guitarist pulls out are fucking amazing and what save this album. The rest of the band read these quick changes well, which helps them sound really tight. Fall River can go from sounding a lot like The Dillinger Escape Plan to The Red Chord to Every Time I Die, but Lights Out is almost split in half: the faster, hardcore-type songs in the first five, followed by the slower and the heavier. Although I do like the first half a lot, especially the second track “The President Has Been Kidnapped By Ninjas” (awesome title!), the second half is a bit better and more diverse. Track eight “Dead Ends and U-Turns” is their biggest “rock” sounding song and maybe my favorite on the album, including the best slow jam riff and a great yet quick solo as well.

I think that Fall River have great potential and will be making a lot more noise in the hard rock scene to come. They seem to be one of those really hard working and hard touring bands that have just gotten bigger and bigger, especially landing a spot on the new Masters of Horror soundtrack featuring a ton of well know bands such as Shadows Fall, Norma Jean, and Andrew WK. Definitely check out Fall River and Lights Out if you’re a fan of quick, fast changing hardcore/metal like The Dillinger Escape Plan as well as slow, heavy rock 'n' roll such as Every Time I Die.
http://www.fallriverrock.com
http://www.thorprecords.com

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Kenny Irwin

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