Review by Dave Longnecker
Being an extreme lover of the post-hardcore/emo/screamer genre of music, I jumped at the chance to review Hawthorne Heights’ debut, The Silence in Black and White. I was impressed by their hit single “Ohio Is for Lovers," so I was curious to see what the rest of the album had to offer. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.
With such an abundance of hardcore/emo bands flooding the current music scene, it is refreshing to find a band with a unique musical style. Gentle guitars explode into furious chords. Softly spoken verses lead into choruses backed with well-placed screams. The album has the listener never knowing what to expect next. The lyrics are poetically well-written, speaking mostly of the joys and pains of both current and broken relationships. I fall to pieces, now a broken mirror in your life and You are the ghost of everything that I’m not offer just a taste of the deep, savory lyrical content. “Niki FM” likens his feelings for a girl to a radio station that only he receives, while “Screenwriting an Apology” is a scene cut from a movie.
Hawthorne Heights is a breath of fresh air in a genre that has recently saturated the music culture. The Silence in Black and White is a journey through love that has been found, lost and found again. With The Silence in Black and White, Hawthorne Heights adds some much needed color to the post-hardcore scene.