Review: We Came As Romans – Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be

WCAR return with their sophomore release…

Artist Name: We Came as Romans
Album Name: Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be
Year: 2011
Genre: Metalcore/Post-Hardcore
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Lyrically darker than To Plant a Seed (but still containing an overall message of postivity and hope), We Came as Romans’ sophomore release, Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be, is about self-realisation, or, as guitarist/lyricist Joshua Moore told us, “realizing the person you are, and if that is the person you want to be or not. And about understanding where you want your life to go.” Personally applicable to everyone, the lyrical content hits home with deeply emotive, powerful messages on ‘What I Wished I Never Had,’ ‘Mis//Understanding,’ ‘Just Keep Breathing,’ and the title track, ‘Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be.’ Whether you like the music or not, you can still identify with the themes.

The band has also done its best to stay true to their To Plant a Seed sound and remain distinct (whichever track you play, you can still hear that it’s We Came as Romans). In terms of progression, there really isn’t much – but, also in the same breath, you have to ask why they’d want to change an obviously successful formula? All the same, you’re still treated to the absolute skull-crushing, dissonant rhythms of ‘Mis//Understanding’ and ‘What I Wished I Never Had,’ as well as the more atmospheric settings of ‘Everything as Planned,’ ‘The Way That We Have Been,’ and ‘Views That Never Cease, to Keep Me from Myself’ – and let’s not forget the synth and symphonic infusions scattered all over the tracks, adding texture and vigor to the tracks. Then, there’s he much talked about autotuned clean vocals of Kyle Pavone, which normally ensures that WCAR get a helluva lot of stick from the metal community and internet trolls (sometimes, actually most times, the two are interchangeable). I’m going to be honest and say that if you hate autotune or overproduction, Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be is definitely not for you, so don’t even bother with it.

There’s no doubt that the album is extremely polished (maybe too glossy) and loaded with fancy-schmancy, modern production techniques, but the fact is it sounds really good and gives off the impression that a lot of work (and money) went into it – I don’t know about you, but I hate albums that sound like they were recorded on the cheap or over a weekend in the toolshed. All in all, it’s quite likely that current WCAR fans will instantly take to Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be, and play it to death. For those who haven’t heard this band yet, this album might be a perfect starting point for you.

Best Tracks: ‘Mis//Understanding,’ ‘What I Wished I Never Had,’ and ‘The Way That We Have Been’

77/100

- Sergio Pereira