Sent By Ravens - Mean What You Say

Artist: Sent By Ravens
Album: Mean What You Say
Release Date: February, 28th 2012
Label: Tooth & Nail Records


Sent By Ravens first album Our Graceful Words was not a big hit with me. It was a very unbalanced album, in which the first half of the album was a lot stronger in many ways than the last half. With that being said, I really wasn't anticipating a great sophomore album from the Tooth & Nail rock band. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised.

Mean What You Say starts out with a killer opening track in 'Prudence'. You can already get a feel for the album with the first couple tracks as they are aggressive, and catchy and really do a great job of getting you pulled in. As I said before their first album was a bit of a let down after the first half of the album. However, this was never the case with Mean What You Say. The album really never gives up on it's overall sound, and when the album does slow down a bit, like on the track 'Never Be Enough' it still fits with the rest of the album.

When I first heard 'We're All Liars' I was a bit nervous about the rest of the lyrics on the full album. But, since then I have grown to really enjoy the more straight forwardness of the lyrics, and not just the metaphorical lyrics. Another thing I really noticed about this album was the vocals. The vocals I believe can either make or break an album of this style, and Zach Riner does not lack in that area. Musically this album is probably my favorite area. The guitars are top notch, and keep the album flowing, and never really letting up.

Overall: Sent By Ravens have really shown what they can bring to the table with their aggressive "radio rock" sound by adding some post-hardcore elements to keep it interesting, and relevant. Honestly, this album sounds like it should be chock-full of screams, and breakdowns, and though I am a fan of those, I'm glad it's not. It's a great mixture of melody and aggressiveness, and is a breath of fresh air in the "radio rock" music world.

Score: 8/10

Reviewed by: Tabor Brown

Tracklisting:

1. Prudence
2. Listen
3. Rebuild, Release
4. Learn From The Night
5. Mean What You Say
6. However Long It Takes
7. Need It Today
8. Never Be Enough
9. We're All Liars
10. Best In Me

(buy here)