Scapegoat

This is a tricky and oftentimes dangerous type of music; you know, the kind that mixes lots of singing with screaming. Oftentimes these bands fall into an overused, uncreative mix and are dubbed as “screamo” or “emo-core” or whatever the choice phrase of the day happens to be. They also happen to all sound the same (all those bands in the “sounds like Glassjaw” category, for example). When I first threw this album on, I thought to myself, “Here we go, another emocore album,” and was not really expecting anything original. The more I listened to it, however, the more I realized I was completely wrong. This is not a screamo album or any album belonging to an overused genre whose bands are the only thing more cliché than the genre itself. This is a rock album. Straight-up rock and nothing more; and believe me, it does just that: it rocks—hard.

This is what today’s rock (or hard rock) should be if it wasn’t overly commercialized and so concerned with profits that the music becomes bland and repetitive. In fact, this is one of the best rock albums I have heard in recent memory. It does everything a rock album should without adhering to the boring, steadfast rules that produce terrible bands like Puddle of Mudd or Disturbed. They call themselves “melodic hardcore” or the newly dubbed “romanticore” (do we need more pointless genre titles), and I suppose these are true, but I think of this album as a straight-up hard rock album without all the bad connotations that come with that genre. The music is straight-forward rock. The guitars and bass all are proficient and create an excellent backdrop for Kit Walters to sing over. Daniel Hitselberger, the drummer, is truly a stand-out on the record as well. The drumming here is excellent to say the least: it’s quite technical without being overdone. I definitely enjoyed the drumming on this record, which I find to be lacking in many records, so this is a definite plus. The singing is all well done, and Walters has the perfect kind of voice for this kind of music. His screaming is also very well done and never feels forced. Overall, their biggest strength may be the fluidity with which they play as a band: the music just fits together perfectly and flows together seamlessly, and as a band effort, it’s really well done.

As for stand-out tracks, “Midnite Rendezvous” is an excellent track. It just plain rocks to no end and seamlessly integrates singing with outbursts of screaming. “Denoucement” begins with a beautiful atmospheric part with ambient singing that can only be described as transcendental before it drops in hard and then never lets go. “November” is the softest track on the album, offering up some variety and showing Scapegoat has some versatility in their bag of tricks. This track is everything rock radio wishes it could be; seriously, that may seem as an overstatement, but this track is just beautiful (the inclusion of a cello performed by Jenifer Millis in the background make it even more beautiful). Definitely one of the best rock songs I’ve heard in a while. On the final track of the album, “Lead Feather” Scapegoat show how intense they can be offering up the hardest track on the album that truly impresses with its non-stop energy without seeming forced or overdone. Needless to say, if Scapegoat offers anything, it’s diversity: a song as intense as this could never be accomplished by most rock outfits today, yet they integrate it perfectly into their album.

I truly can’t express how much this album impressed me. I fear this will slide under the radar for most and that would truly be a shame. Everyone should give this a listen if only to renew their faith in music. Out of nowhere, Scapegoat has made one of the best records released so far this year, and without a doubt, the best rock record released this year.
- www.emocore.us

Overall - 4.5 / 5.0
Musically - 4.0 / 5.0
Lyrically - 4.5 / 5.0
Sound Quality - 4.0 / 5.0

When I first got this cd, just from judging by their artwork... I'm thinking what is this? When I put in the record and as I listened to the first track and I am thinking the same thing. As I ventured on and continued to listen and then began to believe that this is some of the most unique music I've ever heard and it was DAMN good. I mean, what can you say bad about this record? Walter' (Vocals) voice matches the music perfectly for this style of music.

From my first second of the song "Dinner For Four", I thought this could be some fast paced emo music. As I listened, I noticed hardcore mixing in but as I kept listening, I noticed a weird undescribable sound that really puts this band somewhere else and is also damn intriguing. Believe it or not, with Scapegoat's "These Cards Were Dealt", they have created a brand new type of music and I don't even know what to call it but its damn settling. - www.anti-popmusic.com

"The new Scapegoat cd "these Cards we're dealt" is hot. The songs are well written and the music is top notch. With the polished production and mature sound, it's hard to tell these guys are just out of high school! Good things are ahead for this band."

-Divakar (106.5 The End - Charlotte, NC) - Divakar (106.5 The End - Charlotte, NC)