Hawthorne Heights

Hawthorne Heights

By Julia Kazar

Two and a half years ago when Casey Calvert died from an accidental overdose of pain medication, Hawthorne Heights, his Ohio based band had two choices; let this be the end of their music careers, or confront the situation head on and not let it be the end of their band. They chose the second option. The first album Hawthorne Heights released after the tragedy, Fragile Future, mostly dealt with what the band was going through at the time. Noticeably the album didn’t feature any “unclean” vocals, which had previously been provided by Calvert. This lack of unclean vocals made for a drastically different sound then earlier albums had. However, with the release of the band’s fourth studio album; Skeletons, the unclean vocals are back, now provided by bassist Micah Carli.

Fans will hear many similarities between this album and the earlier albums. Tracks like “Drive” are very reminiscent of “Ohio is for Lovers,” one of the band’s best known songs. From the powerhouse instrumentals to the vocals that are a perfect mix between singing and screaming “Drive” does a great job of combining the classic Hawthorne Heights sound that fans first fell in love with, with the newer sound that the band has been honing since the loss of Calvert.

The ballad, “Boy” is one of the most intense and beautiful songs on the album. JT Woodruff sings with such a rawness and openness that the emotions of the song become immediately clear.

“Bring You Back,” which talks openly about suicide, is another emotional song on the album. The song opens with the lyrics; “It was the middle of the night/ when I heard you took your life.” The song takes you through the pain and confusion that everyone goes through when they have lost someone they care about. For the band, it serves as a final goodbye to their friend and band-mate Calvert.

The whole album isn’t just a collection of sad emotional songs though, songs like “Broken Man,” and “End of the Underground” are both upbeat and have a hopeful and even happy feel to them.

It seems that with their fourth studio album, Skeletons, Hawthorne Heights has managed to find the perfect balance between the overwhelming unclean vocals of their earlier albums and the slightly boring straight pop vocals of their third album. Hopefully, this sound sticks.

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