Much like their peers in Thursday, My Chemical Romance have now graduated from the Eyeball Records roster to the big leagues. Signing with Reprise/Warner, these New Jersey natives have opted for their major label debut to be a conceptual effort that continues a story originally started on the groups previous outing, "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". Still sounding like a punkier and more macabre combination of bands like Thursday and A.F.I. though, the band have sacrificed little of what got them their fans in the first place.

While their time spent recording this effort with producer Howard Benson seems to have caused them to trim off some of the frayed ends that used to get snagged, their spunk and energy don't seem to have suffered all that much in the process. Essentially an explosive combination of screamo, emo and punk with fairly traditional influences, the band enlist a brazen swagger for their material that keeps it energized throughout the effort. Undeniably a more focused melodic approach is now present though, as is the band also dabbling in a few different styles - all of which seem to feature more stable song structuring. Tracks like "Give 'Em Hell Kid" deliver adrenalized blasts with surprisingly palatable melodic choruses, while ugly ducklings like "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison" have an edgy, almost swing like feel that never really rides off the rails. While it is nice to see this consistent momentum keep the group in check, it is also somewhat disappointing when compared against their earlier moments of unrestrained intensity.

Even so there's no doubt that the band have experimented and broadened their horizons on this release. Sure they may have cleaned themselves up and put on their darkest clothes, but the material they have splattered all over the walls here is still fairly dark and perverse. In fact, the claustrophobia and musical schizophrenia on display is both alarming and enticing at the same time. My Chemical Romance put an admirable amount of heart and creativity into their craft and on that front, this album succeeds. Ultimately though, it really isn't all that fundamentally different from that of their numerous peers. Like an auditory Rorschach Test, many will take home different things from this outing, but more often than not revenge is a dish that is indeed served cold.