A Bittersweet Symphony Through Pierce The Veil's 'Collide With the Sky'

SCORE: 94/100

A true staple for the band, 'Collide with the Sky' is widely considered and looked at as Pierce The Veil's magnum opus. With riffy guitars, fast drumming, and Vic Fuentes' iconic vocals at the forefront of the constantly refreshing and heavy-hitting 2012 project, 'Collide with the Sky' takes the stellar sounds of the 2000s and expands upon them in a way that far other emo bands could do with this effect.


There's a hugely emotional tone to the entirety of this album that ranges from sorrowful to rage-filled at every turn, with a sound that changes between melodic and heavily charged in an instant with a near-constant pace, it's hard to be bored by this project - and the band uses their skillset very wisely for the composition of this album. Pierce the Veil do post-hardcore just about as good as it gets, and the mix of genres like mall screamo, emo, and easycore make this album an absolute essential. 


Some of the band's best, most recognized moments reside on this album - with songs like 'King For A Day' and 'Bulls In The Bronx' being both highly unique and instantaneously recognizable, these are songs that will stick with you; leading to an album that leaves a lasting impression that you won't find from many other projects. In a genre that feels like a sea of bands that influence one another, Pierce The Veil always managed to be different at the front of it all - they sound how they should, but there's a gravitating force with their music that few other similar bands have. 


'Collide with the Sky' feels like an absolute must in the emo subgenre - there are few albums that match the energy presented by this one, and the band's usage of different subgenres and sounds makes for a project that keeps its sound very fluid and enjoyable throughout the album's runtime. Although seemingly top-heavy, the album manages to hold its weight very well despite starting off on a very, very high note. 


I have a significant set of feelings towards the first 4 tracks (excluding the intro that acts as the album's actual first track), which does make the album feel like it's somewhat top-heavy from this perspective, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well the band managed to keep bouncing off of the already presented sounds to keep the album going just as well as the notes it started out on. It's clear that they knew exactly what they wanted for the sound of this project, and it came together so strikingly well that this album is hard to not be impressed with. 


'Collide with the Sky' is massively consistent - and it manages to be a complete spectacle without ever being overbearing for even a second of its runtime.


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