Eyes Set to Kill - The World Outside

Genre metalcore Publisher Breaksilence Recordings External Links Eyes Set to Kill MySpace

Frontwoman Alexia Rodriguez of Phoenix-based metalcore band Eyes Set to Kill says this to say of their sophomore effort, “Writing was like therapy to me, because there are times when I feel so alone that I don’t know to express myself other than through music.” Musicians like Alexia who writes lyrical content that is true to their heart are rare these days, especially in metal; unfortunately though the music on their sophomore album The World Outside just isn’t that interesting.

Eyes Set to Kill contains a mixture of sounds combing metal from the late 90's like Coal Chamber and Disturbed, i.e. nu metal as well as the overpopulated metalcore genre of today amongst the likes of Bullet for My Valentine and Killswitch Engage but with a female singer. If properly executed, this formula could work. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t.

From the opening track “Heights” to “Her Eyes Hold the Apocalypse”, all the songs sound exactly the same for the most part. Guitars that are loud just for the sake of being loud coupled with the screaming of their keyboardist Brandon Anderson is just one loud, obnoxious mess. There is virtually no melody, no memorable guitar riffs to be heard, a boring rhythm section and with the exception of the final song, you would think there was no keyboardist in the band.

The only thing that saves this band is their lead singer, Alexia Rodriguez, who does actually sing. She has a passionate and soulful voice, but she has constructed the wrong band to surround her efforts. She should not be in a band that is trying to appeal to fans of the tiring metalcore genre. It is just too heavy for her voice. Alexia needs to create a band like Evanescence. She has the skill to write good lyrics that are highly personal - much like that of Amy Lee. A great example of this is the last track and only promising song on the album “Come Home.” This song is not a metal song; instead, it is a piano-driven ballad much like Evanescence’s “My Immortal”, which honestly points to the fact that Alexia is more inclined to be a pop singer than a heavy metal singer.

Metalcore, much like nu metal, has too many copycats. You have Lamb of God, Devildriver and to some, Killswitch Engage and Bullet for My Valentine. That is it. The reason these handful of bands succeed is that they have some uniqueness to them. Good technical players, in addition to unique frontmen that aren’t interchangeable, has proven to be a succesful formula . Brandon, who is the screamer of the band, sounds just like the lead in 99 percent of the other metalcore bands, and as stated before, this is not a genre for females, unless they too are screamers.

The World Outside is not the worst album you’re ever going to hear. Upon just the first listen, one can tell there is some effort put on the disc, but the problem, simply put, is that they are just another band in an already crowded metalcore scene.