Album Review: Pierce The Veil - Collide With The Sky

One of the most important aspects of any form of entertainment is to grab the audience’s attention as early on as possible. Many artists fail at this task, with many fans lost as quickly as they are gained due to a wrong choice of how a band chooses to introduce themselves. Pierce the Veil is not one of those bands. Opening track "May These Noises Startle You In Your Sleep Tonight" starts off with crackling white noise and acoustic guitar, adding haunting yells before exploding into a glorious chaos that hits harder than any of the tracks of their 2010 release, "Selfish Machines." And that’s only first 50 seconds.

What follows is a wild ride of angry guitars, hard hitting drums and soaring vocals. Only once does the album let off for a bit, and that’s on "Tangled In The Great Escape", which is quite literally a 30 second reprieve before slamming back on the gas. The song, which features Jason Butler of letlive., is reminiscent of Vic and Mike Fuentes’ time with Isles & Glaciers, folding keyboards seamlessly in with guitars and the melded voices of Vic and Jason.

However, that isn’t the only noteworthy collaboration on the album. "Collide with the Sky" also boasts tracks featuring Sleeping With Siren’s Kellin Quinn and Oh No Fiasco’s Lindsey Stamey. "King For A Day" with Kellin Quinn will arguably be a favorite amongst fans as it will have been out for a month and a half by the time they get their hands on a copy of the album, giving them plenty of time to get attached. Even if that hadn’t been the case it would be a hit, as it clearly shows the growth PTV has undergone, not to mention the fact that Vic and Kellin voices fit together perfectly. "Collide with the Sky" comes to a shuddering stop with "Hold On Till May" featuring Lindsey Starney, almost as if the proverbial car had run out of gas and left listeners in an open field with nothing but hopes of all possibilities lying ahead of them. It’s a perfect ending to the album, fading out as slowly as it faded in, creating a sense of completeness before the listener is forced to hit the repeat button.

In the end, the only downside to "Collide with the Sky" is the fact that it hardly gives listeners time to breathe, which is hardly a downside at all. The bands growth is quite evident throughout and if this is how they plan on growing with each release, fans can certainly expect more greatness in the future.

4/5

"Collide with the Sky" is out July 17th through Fearless Records.

Victoria Patneaude