Greeley Estates - Devil Son EP

Greeley Estates - Devil Son

Greeley Estates released the first part of their dual EP project last November and it was mixed perfectly and as heavy as No Rain No Rainbow, basically making up for The Death of Greeley Estates weaker production. It was representative of everything that makes Greeley, Greeley. They've finally returned with the second part titled Devil Son. It heads in different direction than The Narrow Road, and the beginning few songs shows a lot of growth as a band. Unfortunately it doesn't come out as strong as the first part.

Say whatever you want about Greeley Estates but they know how to write an opener to an album. The opener this time again shares the same name as the EP, Devil Son. It starts off acoustically with a haunting electronic tone in the back. The band comes in slowly with a powerful drum line and a haunting chorus in the background. Pretty powerful for what is probably their slowest song. I actually wish it was a bit longer it's one of the better songs on the album.

Marionette was the first video released from this EP and it's pretty good, it shows progress from the band, I would like them to do more songs like this, it's one of their softer songs that actually comes together nicely without feeling weak. Mixing soft vocals with the screaming we're used to, it's done nicely, also the guitar work is a step forward for the band in general.

Turn the Night Away is another progressive song and shows a bit of their range. Again it starts off pretty slow, and soft, not weak, just softer than usual. It starts picking up and culminates in one of the heaviest breakdowns from them. Lyrically it's also pretty powerful and should hit home for a lot of people. This is a direction I would like to see Greeley take, they can do softer songs and still remain heavy and it's evident with this song.

The rest of the album is going to feel more at home with older Greeley Estates fans. Starting with The World You Used to Know, it feels like something from their older pre-Go West albums. Again the guitar is probably the standout of this song. Overall unless what you're looking for is older Greeley Estates this song will disappoint, and it's too bad since they have progressed so far over the last few albums.

The Killing Fields is actually pretty decent, but again more like their older work. It comes off as weak. Not just because it's softer, but more because of the structure and vocal work, and the overall package. The next song up comes out the same way, it feels a bit whiney overall. Not their best work really.

The EP does close on a good note though, Cut Me Out is a haunting pretty hard tune. It's again slower than anything on The Narrow Road, but comes off feeling pretty heavy. It demonstrates the growth I was talking about with their albums. It's not anything amazing like Doomsday was but it's still a good way to end this EP.

The Narrow Road set expectations high for this EP, maybe a little too high. It's Unfortunate because there's nothing particularly bad about the album, overall it just comes off a little weak. For every moment of progress and every step forward it feels like they took two steps back. I reccomend Greeley fans pick it up, it's worth listening to, and will probably resonate more for older Greeley fans, but it won't leave you with the same feeling as The Narrow Road did.