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After the Tragedy will appeal to anyone who likes the typical selection playing on hard rock radio today.  Lead vocalist Joel Taylor varies his style from the quivering clean (think Chevelle or Outspoken) to the Tazmanian devil.  The music also varies enough with occasional nods to ‘70s and ‘80s metal to be dismissed as “just another emo-core band.”

The lyrics leave no doubt as to the band’s spiritual direction.  While After the Tragedy is never preachy and is usually consistent with the themes of the genre, their title track includes the lines:

 I will not claim to have reached perfection but will continue working to the day
 hen I will be all that Jesus Christ has saved me for and wants me to be.

What else makes this band stand out a bit from the rest (besides having an interesting drummer) is their incredible emotional intensity.  This is seen particularly in the album’s closer, “Roses in the Fence.”  It’s one of the least technical songs on the album, but the time-signature drop into a screaming chorus of “We will, we will not die!” just plain rocks.

Dn Singleton
December 18 2005