For the Taken

For The Taken is the debut full-length from Arizona-based alternative rock outfit, Mercy Fall. Seeing as the forceful opener "Insurmountable" is the album's generic brash song, it sets things up rather deceivingly for the remainder of the record, since Mercy Fall actually more often utilize an ethereal heaviness that is not reliant on just thunderous, in-your-face rock. The album's denser songs appear more during its first half, as most of the songs near the end are lighter, more provocative numbers that stand strong amid the powerful, aching vocals of Nate Stone. "No More Silence" might be an eccentric, quasi-outburst among the searching quality of the closing tracks, but even it leads directly into a hidden number with just Stone singing poignantly over an acoustic guitar. A better version of the opening track appears as "I Got Life," the band's first radio single with a big, airwave-ready chorus, ferocious rhythms, and even a searing guitar solo. Proving that they can be as vulnerable as they are heavy, however, tracks like the affecting "Not Broken Down" and the damn near sunny "Here I Am" flaunt their broad range of emotional release. Mercy Fall seem to be a band who sincerely want to use their hard rock as a means of making a passionate statement. A competent debut that could be the start of better things for them.