Ah, screamo. Gotta love it. There is not much room for creativity in this field. There are, however, many bands that sound very similar to other bands. Enter Rise Record's Here I Come Falling.

Here I Come Falling, at first listen, sounds very similar to labelmates Burden of a Day's album Blessed Be Our Ever After. It's a mix of high and low screams, singing and breakdowns. However, Here I Come Falling throws a new twist into their music, which is very creative. Unfortunately, that twist does not get them very far.

The first song, "Put the City to the Sword" begins with a few simple clean guitar chords and a simple drumbeat. Finally, a huge breakdown comes in, and the high scream combines with the low. At this point, I just about destroyed the room because of its awesomeness. Unfortunately, the awesomeness does not last. From there, it garners some clean chords and the high screams just make my head hurt. The low screams are good, but are hardly there. Then "Ghost Town for a Graveyard" turns on, and I am prepared for another letdown. The majority of the song is mediocre, sounding very close to the first song. Then the twist comes in! A techno beat kicks in somewhere in the middle, grabbing my attention, so I kept listening.

The majority of the songs sound very, very similar. At times, I would look at my iPod, thinking that "Oh my, this song has gone on forever" only to realize that the song I thought it was was five songs ago - all with the high scream hurting my head, the singing sounding awfully similar, and the breakdowns coming in at random intervals. I was getting bored with these songs, to say the least. Finally, one song caught my attention. "And So We'll Be With the Lord Forever" is a ballad, a break from all the annoying, head-aching screaming and breakdown-ing. The entire song is just beautiful piano and tender singing. It was a refreshing change. "The Beast from the East," is the album closer, sounding very similar to the others. The featured guitar solo really is the only thing that makes this song stand out.

Lyrically, this album is all about standing firm against the world in God. "Bad Company Ruins Good Manners" and "The Beast From the East" talk about preparing for battle: "Catch your breath/ Put your armor on/ It's time to face your king." The latter says: "Bite the bullet/ We'll fight until we die!/ Lord, prepare me for battle!" "Ghost Town For a Graveyard" speaks of hypocrisy: "The dead will rise and the rain will fall/ As Heaven begins to cry/ Preacher clip these wings!"

All in all, Oh Grave, Where is Thy Victory is creative, but unfortunately very repetitive. The lyrics are great, but the listener may find that the screams may distract from the overall message. For some, these screams may be enjoyed, but for me, I'll stick to the metalcore.

JFH Reader Review: written by Luke Johnson, 1/18/10, for Jesusfreakhideout.com