Tear the World Down

Ben Moody's re-emergence as the force behind We Are the Fallen shows that he hasn’t lost his gift for orchestrated otherworldly anguish. On the band’s debut album Tear the World Down, Moody is joined by fellow Evanescence alumni John LeCompt (guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums), as well as former American Idol contestant Carly Smithson on vocals. Smithson’s piecing wails and melodramatic sense of dynamics invite comparisons with Moody’s old partner Amy Lee. Tear the World Down’s songs likewise recall Evanescence’s fusion of romantic torment and blood-stained mysticism. If anything, We Are the Fallen takes these elements even further, plunging Smithson into a vortex of bone-crunching guitars, ominous strings and thunderous percussion. “Bury Me Alive,” “Burn,” “St. John” and the title tune reach operatic heights of emotion. “Through Hell” adds a funk undercurrent to the scary sonic landscape. Smithson is allowed a gentler moment on the yearning “Sleep Well, My Angel.”