A Massive Release from Curtis Dove

A new album release from Curtis Dove comes through with a vivacious and expansive metal and alternative rock tonality but it does so with these stories that are underlined in the songs and with those come a theme and it's all packed into this massive and almost orchestral metal approach with every other song being incredibly radio friendly.
What's pretty amazing about the Rise From the Ashes album is the fact that it's done with such an amazing combination of edginess, vast heaviness, and also hooks that stick with you for hours or even days after the songs have ended. The only way to satiate that is to go and listen to those songs again and I feel like that's a combination of smart songwriting but also just having a natural knack for bringing heavy tonality to a wide range of people.
There are a few things that really blow my mind about this record and one of them is the production. Everything about the production of this record is Stellar. Everything is polished, bright, heavy, deepening but also sharp, and dynamically balanced amazingly well.
The drums cut through everything and had such a massive drive to the already blisteringly huge tracks and the way the guitar tone is laid out is slightly different from song to song depending, but is always perfect.
What I mean is, the guitar tones are never super over the top but they are very heavy in terms of bringing that alternative rock vastness to the table and this is part of what makes a lot of the songs very radio-friendly.
The vocal approach is really a massive part of what makes this record so not just personal, but polished. The vocal approach, a lot of the time, consists of two tracks that are octaves of each other.
If you're not familiar with what that means, it means that he's singing the same notes but one in a high register and one in a low register. This gives the effect of a fat tone and it adds this amazingly unique texture to the songs.
There are certain bands that I can give you where you may understand what I mean. For example, bands like 3 Days Grace do that vocally and that's something that lets them stand out.
This approach works wonders for the record and its production as well because it adds layers to the song and thickness to the sound quality.
The choruses are anthemic and just huge. The energy is electric and it feels like something where there are multiple players performing things live in a room where everyone can feed off of each other as they record.
Now, having said that, I'm not sure how much Curtis himself actually performs in terms of the instrumentation. But, I can tell you that it feels alive and breathing when you listen to it.
Being able to take that dark and sort of edgy undertone and bring it into this set of other subgenres and radio-friendly rock intensity really works here and I feel like Curtis has found something special in terms of his own personal sound.
This is an album that you have to listen to from beginning to end and I don't say that lightly. This does feel like a concept album where songs interconnect with each other in different ways so to get the full story you'd want to listen to the entire record because it is a story of light and dark battling each other in a way and it runs the gambit of certain emotions.
The cool part about the whole concept album thing is that even though it feels like a sort of fictional and gigantic storyline comment a lot of the stuff could also be used as metaphor for personal struggle and other life situations.
This is a 19-track record technically and spans a good hour or so in length.
For people who love heavy music that feels orchestral, semi-theatrical, intense, engulfing, vast, and powerful, then this album is 100% for you.
I love this record because I grew up in a time when you would hear a track on the radio and go and buy a record. You would go and buy an album. When you listened to that full album it became an experience and you soaked that in for a month at a time at least.
This Album makes me think of that. It gives me the same feeling.
So, listen to this record. Take an hour aside and crank this thing because it's pretty amazing.
See how this affects you.
