As soon as news broke that Pierce The Veil were returning to the stage, every young and elder emo across the planet gathered in amazement. Fresh off their recent UK tour last December, we finally have that album the fans have been waiting for. The question is: was it worth the wait? The singles gave seen the band going down a new creative path, whilst still capturing that pop punk/emo vibe they always had.
The opening track “Death Of An Executioner” warms you up with a siren like sound and a groovy drum beat. That later kicks off with that simple punky and melodic bang sending you back to 2012. With the energy it brings, it’s a surefire contender as a live set opener. The drumming throughout the album is very different to the rest of their discography for obvious reasons. But this didn’t stop guest drummer Brad Hargreaves from adding his own style to the mix and giving it an almost entire new sound to the band.
The three singles the band released prior to the album release gave fans a glimpse of what’s to come. “Pass The Nirvana” received great success very quickly as it was their first release since “Misadventures” which was released in 2016. The next two singles “Emergency Contact” and “Even When I’m Not With You” simply kept the hype train rolling. Fans knew that this album was going to be something worth getting excited over, after seeing them scream the lyrics back to them at live shows not long after its release.
In this new album, the band have adopted this 90s grunge style that has been incorporated into this album. While also keeping their pop punk style that has been the pinnacle sound to their career. The song “Damn The Man, Save The Empire” really grabs that grungy sound and takes it into full swing. “Flawless Execution” is also another example this 90s grunge approach. The guitars on this song have an almost stoner feel to the mix which plays a huge part to the grunge genre. Pierce The Veil also went down the route of using interesting electronic effects on their slow songs to really spice their softer songs up and give it its uniqueness amongst the other more harder and faster songs on the album. “Shared Trauma” is a prime example of this, which has the potential to be a fan favourite for many reasons and not just because of its emotional emo power ballad direction.
After being away for so long Pierce The Veil needed to come back strong to grab the attention of people of their return. The Jaws Of Life proves that the band can not only write fresh music, but they can incorporate sounds that you wouldn’t expect of them and make sure people were aware of their return as a whole, whether they were fans or not.