antiMusic.com: Suicide Note - Empty Rooms Review

Suicide Note - Empty Rooms Review

by Robert VerBruggen

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Listening to Empty Rooms, one wonders if Suicide Note named the record after the crowds they face in concert. This is garbage: Every brainless guitar riff sounds the same, the production makes the band sound like mush (not that it needed any help), and if the singer didn't possess such an annoying, grating yell, one might complain that the vocals are mixed too low.

Of course, every once in awhile the band touches on something that might have worked in more capable hands � for example, the intro to "Merci, Mercy" is a little eerie until it repeats far too many times, and eventually drifts into the far less inspired territory the band is more comfortable in. "Social Leper" and "No Waves" are a little more upbeat than most of the other tracks, but no more listenable.

"Simple Math," to its credit, actually varies the dynamics. "New Eyes" and the instrumental "Ride Out West," probably the best songs on offer here, have a bit of a laid-back classic-rock vibe.

But in the end, there isn't much to salvage � normally, even with a band this bad, it's possible to say the guitarist should move on, or the singer should find better songwriters. But these dudes should all just call it quits.

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Suicide Note - Empty Rooms
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