The second album from Michigan six piece We Came As Romans, Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be, sees the band moving forward from their very promising 2009 debut album To Plant A Seed.
Musically, We Came As Romans can lazily be put under the catagory of emo or screamo. However, this would do the band a great disservice. Firstly, there is a great deal more light and shade on both a musical and sonic level than some of their contemporaries. Fronted by two lead singers, David Stephens (unclean vocals) and Kyle Pavone (clean vocals), the band also stand out from the pack on a lyrical level due to their incredibly positive and life affirming message.
The band achieve a wonderful balance in regards to lyrics in that they never come off as didactic or preachy. This album very much charts that transition from being a teenage boy to becomming a man. It does so in a very down to earth and unpretentions way. Tracks such as ‘The Way That We Have Been’ and ‘What My Heart Held’ illustrate beautifully issues that face young men every day, such as not repeating mistakes one has made in the past with the former track and wanting more out of life than the mundane and being a sheep in the latter track.
Sonically, the band create a great and effective sound, somewhere between Linkin Park and System Of A Down. There is a wonderful sense of balance between the sonic and lyrical aspects of the band. All of the members are very accomplished musicians who continually shine on this album.
The strongest aspect of Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be is the underlying positive message that comes through. This sets them apart remarkably from the gloom and doom negative attitude one normally associates with this genre of music.
A strong album from a very promising band that hopefully will continue to do interesting and compelling things in the future.
-Neil Evans
