Dead to Fall - Everything I Touch Falls to Pieces

With a name like Dead to Fall, it's hard to know what to expect. Clicky black metal can come in many colors (other than black), and even though decent ideas flail across Everything I Touch Falls to Pieces, and Dead to Fall has signs of young lads with talent, there is not enough adhesive. Something is missing from the whole of this band, and it's difficult to know what that is at first listen. Of course, unfans of throat-culture vocals should steer clear of this entirely. There is such a thing as bad classical music - where melodies that pick from all that has been done before are given in little doses, so there's nothing interesting. This can create ear candy for some, since it's easy to listen to, but since black metal is far from ear candy, Dead to Fall ends up being overly simple. You've got guys that love... well... black metal, and two guitars playing single notes of classical scales is obviously their love as well. But with few original ideas and a not-so-tight rhythm section, you've got a very, very decent band. The album itself is poorly mixed, and is a loose attempt at being heavy. The singer has nothing special in his repertoire except for "woofs" and repetition of his favorite phrases including the album title, the word "destruction", and "I will not fall". Certain tracks really do stand out and might make you smile, including "Like a Bullet" which starts out slim but is choreographed the way classical metal is supposed to be. Honestly, the highlight of the entire CD is the acoustic/instrumental interlude, "Doraematu", which shows the string talent a few of them have. A few choice tracks keep this one over a 2.0. But overall, Dead to Fall is nothing special, and aside from a few "special" tracks, the CD is not really worth it's weight in hard earned cash. [www.deadtofall.com]