Comes from the Heart

In the incredibly crowded screamo/melodic hardcore field, countless bands have set out to prove two things: (1) they are hard as hell, and (2) they are also kind, sensitive, vulnerable, caring, introspective, and very, very emo. Screamo guys, like emo guys, are known for doing things that guys on the metalcore side of the hardcore scene would never dream of doing -- for example, wearing women's jeans because "they fit better" -- but then, screamo artists never claimed to be either traditional metalcore or old-school hardcore artists. Creatively, some screamo bands have done great things with the brutality/sensitivity contrast (for example, From Autumn to Ashes), but there has also been a saturation of totally forgettable screamo bands. Comes from the Heart, the second album from Orange County, CA's Stick to Your Guns, is neither the best nor the worst that screamo has to offer. In a sense, calling this 2008 release screamo is a figure of speech because lead singer Jesse Barnett doesn't scream so much as give us a gruff, angry bark. But that gruff, angry bark is still quite a contrast to the album's clean vocals, which -- like a lot of the clean vocals in screamo -- are decidedly sweet. Some screamo bands try to integrate their harsh and clean vocals as much as possible; they want to show you what it's like to have heaven and hell under the same roof, but with Stick to Your Guns, the clean vocals take somewhat of a backseat to the harsh vocals -- and occasionally, this 27-minute CD ends up feeling a bit more metalcore than screamo. Although not earth-shattering, the Southern Californians' derivative work is at least competent. Comes from the Heart never achieves greatness, but considering how many embarrassingly sloppy screamo releases there have been in the 21st century, competent at least counts for something.