blows my mind they didn’t ease the audience into this transition with an ep of shared vocal songs. I think people would have still not loved it, but it would have lessened the blow imo.
the weird online stuff has been one thing, but yeah, that probably would have helped. my biggest issue is I still just do not like Matty's vocals, especially compared to what came before. it sounds almost computer generated and lacking depth or definition. i think Christian taking over would have been a better fit based on what little we've heard; it would at least be more interesting to me. getting the matty fanbase was probably attractive though.
this, coupled with the fact that stephen has a very distinct lyrical style. matty’s stuff has seemed super cliche and lacking comparatively to me.
Stephen singing on this would definitely help, but it'd be even better if the lyrics weren't just riddled with bland poker allegories too. i don't outright hate this song (since the instrumental has existed for years), but it just feels like the exact opposite of what they should be doing at this point in time.
It's obviously cool for Marty that he gets to sing for his favorite band and got the blessing from their original singer. That does not change the fact that he's not good at it.
agreed on all of the above. I think Christian could have crushed. I saw his side project band at the carrollhood record release show and he has the presence of a frontman. as a casual fan who really didn’t hop on the bandwagon until Vital, my interest is still peaked as to what a proper release would look like and I can’t imagine this lineup goes on longer than 2-3 years. MEATY’s melodies have been good. his touched up vocals are lame but not as offensive as i imagined them to be. I completely get the 20 year die hard fans hating this. those last two eps were insane and the best comeback songs from a hiatus i can think of from this genre. This is no doubt drastic.
Christian taking over would have been the best move. They could still do it. I'd have been completely fine with that.
He is a co-host on one of the local morning radio shows in St. Louis. He also has a cover band that plays around St. Louis a lot and his band Greek Fire. Also plays in Goldfinger.
Anberlin is putting out new music in 2024 and… I don’t really care? Someone help this make sense lol. 1) I guess I’m fine with them doing whatever until they get back to an album with Stephen like they originally said (though it feels less likely for some reason). 2) The trajectory of musical styles for the band has been so weird lately. They release their most experimental, industrial, synth-heavy music of their career, really pushing themselves to do something different. And now… they are back on emo adjacent pop-rock? (Seven is an exception to this, but still). I want bands to do what they want, but it feels a little like trying to ride the nostalgia wave of the emo resurgence. I feel Anberlin’s career has just always been torn between maturing and experimenting with their sound, yet being stuck playing FGD and Paperthin Hymn over and over at festivals.
I absolutely loved the trajectory they were on with those EPs. Really bums me out that this is the Anberlin reality we all live in now.
I just gotta say: Feel Good Drag whips, both versions. Are we trying to act like that song hasn’t always been awesome?
Was going to skip Anberlin’s set this weekend at WWWY and just found out Stephen is here. Damn. This is going to be TOUGH.
He’s going to hop on stage, wave his hand, then take off his mask to reveal Matty. Remember this post
Kinda wild how positive the comments are on the music video for "High Stakes". Yeah, it's catchy, but the lyrics and delivery are just not it.
It's not that wild, this song sounds like something straight off NTFP/Cities, which is peak anberlin.
The instrumentals do, cause they are, but the song doesn’t. Mostly I’m thinking the Matty/MmF fan base may be bigger than the Anberlin fanbase ever was. At least on socials.