Revolution Theory are an odd breed with a somewhat misleading name, as the group's music falls a bit short of being revolutionary. Combining a strangely upbeat rapcore vocal styling with very jamroom sounding music the band trucks on through the CD's 12 tracks never really hitting a complete stride. Vocals are very flat, lacking a dynamic emotion they seem oddly devoid of passion and a bit almost out of place, at times he slows it down letting out some purified spoken word but for most of the tracks he uses a dislodged stumbling rappy flow that seems to lack intense emotion. The flows and screams do compliment and fit with the music, but overall don't sound very authentic and could almost suggest that not much heart was put into the vocal spectrum of the music. Guitars are tad more interesting, mild variation with a fairly medium tuning range and fuzz distortion is what is served up keeping the energy level ignited, but not enough to provide much more than a satisfactory amount of heat. Bass on the other hand has a bit more depth to it, some slapping and popping takes place along with some hopping funky basslines that don't stretch themselves far into the realm of progression but still get the job done and keep things entertaining. Drums are a bit dull sounding, they feel drowned out by the cymbals and high hat work and in turn feel a bit stifled behind the other instruments. Instead of implementing dynamic variation, they tend to play to the tune of some very static beats that could stand out if moderated with other fills, but don't and end up losing integrity from constant repetition. Although the groups sound is a bit ho-hum feeling they do experiment a bit, there's a cover of the classic Public Enemy track "Hazy Shade Of Criminal" that isn't all that inspiring but is amusing to listen to, and on the track "Blank Uplifted" the group sheds its almost contrived sounding rappish side for a soothingly relaxing spoken word number that perhaps could be one of the brighter points on the CD due to its originality and honest feel. Overall the band has the talent and ideas to make a record that could grip the listeners attention, but it seems they lack the confidence or solidarity in the direction they took with this CD as it just seems to lack soul or groove, and as a direct result of this, the CD just meanders on through a been there done that feeling that fails to inspire. Revolution Theory's music sounds good in theory but it seems something was a bit lost in the transition to CD, they're a very playful sounding band that does show a humorous attitude with off beat covers and miscellaneous other bursts of eclectic spontaneity, but all in all it seems that is the only side shown and it feels as though they lost focus on making the music attractive to an in depth listener, perhaps a little revolution through the bands song writing process is all they need to overcome this stumbling block.
(3 / 5)