Armor For Sleep - What to Do When You Are Dead
About a month ago, the “buzz” surrounding Armor For Sleep’s sophomore album, What to Do When You Are Dead, started ringing out. It’s the make it or break it album
Lately, the countless number of CDs that are delivered day after day to my door end up piling up sky high next to my desk. Some of the lucky ones are best served as a welcoming mat for my morning and nightly cups of coffee. You really need something to keep you up when the music brings you down. About a month ago, the “buzz” surrounding Armor For Sleep’s sophomore album, What to Do When You Are Dead, started ringing out. It’s the make it or break it album and I love to listen for the progression, or mostly lack thereof.
I was initially impressed by Armor For Sleep’s debut album, Dream to Make Believe, it was an album that showed promise. They’ve changed the way someone can look at a band’s second full-length release with What to Do When You Are Dead. This album, which borders near conceptual is written from the perception or point of view of someone who has traversed over into the afterlife. It’s a journey and passage of life and death. Something we all must face, but find it hard to talk about and realize.
The music is reminiscent of a dark, cinematic feature and the album is in fact admirably structured that way. The full experience of listening to this album is closely related to that of watching a film with all its peaks and valleys throughout. The album begins with an actual death, an entering to heaven and being alone before returning home and finally taking your steps as a ghost. Don’t let the conceptual idea of the album fool you though. While the full experience of the album is best suited to listen to in sequence, each song can surprisingly stand alone. That is how well executed these songs are. Now the concept is definitely intriguing but it wouldn’t be able to stand up without the music and Armor For Sleep do not disappoint. They have implemented the same amount of thought and expression into the music as they did with the concept. The music on this album is a clear progression from their debut album. I can best describe it and relate it to as the way label mates; The Snake The Cross The Crown progressed from their first EP to their LP.
What to Do When You Are Dead sees a change in the vocals as the range is much more vast and extensive. The guitars also provide their own range as they are featured much more enthusiastically with shuffling between high points and low points that help budge the delicate structure of the album along. Another aspect that is truly neat to follow is how the lyrics flow so well with the music. You get the sense that there was so much time put into matching the lyrics with the guitar and bass lines because it all fits so well. As much as they have progressed on this release, they still manage to keep things somewhat catchy and I think that’s the trick. Often times, concept albums can offer too much experimental material that one tends to lose focus. Rather than deem this album experimental, the right thing to do would be to classify it as the result of what happens when a band pours thought, vitality and the will to do things differently into a release, and then to have execution meet expectations.
(Equal Vision Records)