Ataris

Welcome the Night

BY Ariana RockPublished Apr 18, 2007

This album is a bit of a disappointment; the instrumentation has more of a gritty feel than past efforts, which is somewhat reminiscent of Muse’s chunky, epic sound, but lacks the dynamics or vocal prowess to carry this music like it demands. After major line-up changes (with only guitarist John Collura and singer Kris Roe left), the Ataris decided it was time for an overhaul. And while it’s perfectly acceptable for a band to want to expand their sound and develop as they mature, this effort seems like a regression, as Kris’s vocals don’t suit the music at all, with the results coming across like a poor man’s Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. They truly have a lot of kinks to work out if they want to continue in this vein, but seeing how it took nearly two years for Welcome the Night to finally drop after production began, and four years since their previous album, which went quadruple platinum, the future of this band is looking rather bleak if things progress without major changes.

(Sanctuary, www.sanctuaryrecords.com)
(Sanctuary)

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