Pierce The Veil – Collide With The Sky

Label: Fearless Records

Release Date: July 17, 2012

Rating: 8.5/10

Reviewed by: Emily Hubbard

Two years ago, I took a chance at Warped Tour and decided to see Pierce the Veil, a band that I had been starting to hear about, but didn’t really know. I fell in love and for the next year, I saw them every time they came through Chicago. Their third studio album, Collide with the Sky, shows the progress the band has made since 2010’s Selfish Machine, but every song is still distinctly Pierce the Veil.

“May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight” starts off the disk and is definitely an intro track to the CD.  About half way through, the song brings out some of the Mexican flare that helps create what they call, Mexicore.  “Hell Above” has a very catchy chorus sang by Vic Fuentes.  What really makes this song great is the break down near the end, which is helped with Vic’s brother Mike’s double bass drum pedal work and the screaming vocals and bass lines of Jamie Preciado. “A Match into Water” starts off with great lyrics by Vic, which continue through out.  Tony Perry also adds to the song with his creative and interesting guitar licks. “King for a Day” is clearly a good choice for their first single from the very opening. The vocals come in with a punch and the use of Kellin Quinn from Sleeping with Sirens really adds to the song because his voice is a perfect fit with Fuentes’.  This song is full of hard verses and catchy choruses, all the right things to make a great song in this scene.

“Bulls in the Bronx” starts off with a very interesting guitar lick that continues through out the song. Halfway though the song, the band’s Mexican heritage is brought in with the guitar and drums, which is a super nice touch. “Props & Mayhem” is not as hard as the other songs on the album but still fits in quite nicely.  Fuentes’ lyrics sound a lot deeper on this song and the pain can almost be heard in his voice making this song a gem on this album.  “Tangled in the Great Escape” features Jason Butler from Letlive, whose deeper vocals make a good contrast with Fuentes’ higher voice. The piano part halfway through adds a nice contrast to the song and helps break up the almost 6 minute song. “I’m Low on Gas and You Need a Jacket” has a unique bongo part through out that sounds cool especially when paired with the cymbal.  The song is relatively simple until about halfway through there’s a part where only Fuentes is singing and from that point on, the song has a lot of feeling and it makes it something special.

“The First Punch” is a song full of angry lyrics. This helps the song have a high-energy that would be great live.  “One Hundred Sleepless Nights” has a jazzy feel that is something different than other songs from this band.  “Stained Glass Eyes and Colorful Tears” has a really different opening that sounds like a music box and transitions really nicely into the rock style.  There’s a line that says, “Oh my God this is paradise” that would be really cool to hear a crowd scream at a show.  “Hold on Till May” features Lindsay Stamey who is a singer of a band called The Few.  This song is filled with emotion, which Fuentes always pulls off very well and the use of Stamey just adds to it.

Albums like Pierce the Veil’s last album, Selfish Machine, are hard to follow up, but I think Collide with the Sky meets that challenge.  This is a great album that I think will have great reception as a CD and on the stage.

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Tags: Collide With The Sky, Pierce The Veil

Category: CD Reviews