i first heard Saosin at A Taste Of Chaos in either 2006 or 2007 and was blown away by their singer and their engagement with the crowd. the hard and roaring guitars mixed with a vocalist singing against and through it all in a higher register created something i had not heard before and sent tingles across the skin.

before In Search Of Solid Ground was released the proposed artwork (below) had caused some form of controversy, mostly among fans, for being too 'high concept'. it was hastily redone days before release.

Saosin seem to be hitting harder for their second album. the opener, I Keep My Secrets Safe is a crack to skull and sets the pacing for the bulk of the album to follow.

The faster pace of the album isn't enough to make the 13 tracks feel brief.
in tow are Cove's soaring vocals, being brilliantly pushed to it's limit on Nothing Is What It Seems.
i think the band is starting to hit a good balance between the Anthony Green helmed Translating the Name and their debut self titled album, helmed by new vocalist Cove Reber.
it must have been a difficult legacy to overcome.

The sound can tend to blend the tracks together after the brilliant opener, but every now and again one will punch out through the pack to grab your attention back to where it should be being payed.
Occasionally the pace will slow down to give the listener a slight breather and give room to gather thoughts.
Indeed, as the album winds down the pace loosens and the feel of the album lends itself to becoming sparser with the beautiful closer Fireflies.

Say Goodbye shows a tiny glimpse of a spark at electronic instrumentation as the track fades into pulses and glitching.
it peeks once more through the track It's All Over Now with a subtle warm swell of keys.

i trust that it must be quite difficult to invent yourself as a band and stay relevant and interesting within the post-hardcore genre in it's current over-saturated and watered-down state.
it must also be difficult to progress as this particular band, when the common consensus would say that their best work was created 7 years ago, with a different frontman.

personally i think Cove has done a very decent job in trying to create a place for himself within the band and within the general population of post hardcore singers and stands among the best of them.

stand out tracks: I Keep My Secrets Safe. Changing.