Posted on: January 17, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve gotten to review an Ampline disc. I wish it hadn’t been so long, as the band starts out with the very intense “Your Tongue or Your Life”. This song has all of the emotional intensity of a Fugazi or a Desert City Soundtrack, tying the best parts of both bands up into something complete. While there are segments of an Ampline song that maybe somewhat repetitious, the band includes these tracks of musical landscape in their tracks to build up to something brilliant. Each of the songs on “Rosary” does just that, and Ampline never backs down.

As was the case with their last album, most of the tracks on “Rosary” are without anything in the way of vocals. The band does not need this at all, as the average intensity of an Ampline track far outshines even that of most vocal bands. However, if the track includes something in the way of vocals, this gives Ampline all the more power. Ampline comes strong with all of the tracks on the disc, and while there is decidedly a slightly older style to Ampline on “Rosary”, there is an edge to these tracks that cuts through the years and makes it salient to anyone in the current era that might be listening in. The production value achieved on this disc is easily equivalent to any major label act, and the mastering of Ampline’s tracks is without fault. The band may only stick with “Rosary” for 41 minutes, but the picture they paint with the album will cause individuals to expend much more time trying to decipher all the band has offered.

Even if the band comes up with the largely serene tracks, the fact remains that the band puts and expends a lot of energy into these songs. Ampline is the act that individuals may not get into a circle pit for, but you best believe that there will be a frenzied mass in front of the band whenever they come to the stage. Make sure to pick up this album, their last album, and see them live if they are coming anywhere within a 150 mile distance. Ampline is the act that will supplant bands like The Appleseed Cast and the aforementioned Desert City Soundtrack in pure beauty of their tracks and their ability to tell a tale without using much in the way of vocals to do so.

Top Tracks: Red And Yellow, Paper Tiger

Rating: 6.5/10

[JMcQ]

Ampline – Rosary / 2006 Shake It / 12 Tracks / http://www.ampline.net / http://www.shakeitrecords.com /

Leave a Comment