In the Wake of Determination

Description

Frontman Dan Marsala has gone on record saying that Story of the Year's near-platinum 2003 debut, Page Avenue--produced by Goldfinger's John Feldmann--didn't properly represent the band or its full throttle live show. The St. Louis screamo group aims to remedy that with this follow-up, co-produced by Steve Evetts, whose past clients include the convincingly heavy Hatebreed and Dillinger Escape Plan. To the casual fan, the difference might sound negligible. The guitars are a little louder and there's more of a chugga-chugga thing going on, but the lyrics still wrestle with oppression and much of the pop sheen of the first album still shines through on tracks like "Take Me Back" and "We Don't Care Anymore." --Aidin Vaziri