Review: Hawthorne Heights – “Zero”

ARTIST: HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS

ALBUM: ZERO

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 25TH, 2013

LABEL: RED RIVER ENTERTAINMENT

RATING: 6/10

After the releases of their last two EP’s “Hate” and “Hope,“ the Dayton, Ohio based rock band Hawthorne Heights is back and have put forth their new full length album entitled “Zero”. If you’re not familiar with this band, Hawthorne Heights has been at it since 2001 and has had four full length album releases before Zero. “The Silence In Black And White,” “If Only You Were Lonely,” “Fragile Future,” and “Skeletons”.

If you were a fan of Fragile Future and Skeletons, you will probably be able to tolerate this album. For fans of The Silence and If Only, I’m sorry to inform you but this probably isn’t what you were hoping for. As hopeful as I was for the BIG hyped up return for Hawthorne Heights with this album, Zero really didn’t work for me. Zero is suppose to be a “concept” album but at times it’s honestly hard for me to grasp the concept because the songs jump back from gloomy to jumpy almost every track. You really don’t grasp the “concept” until the very end.

The album kicks off with an acoustic prelude “Skeletons Remain (Transmission 1),” which is honestly really unnecessary to me. I think “Over And Out (Transmission 2)” would be an extremely better choice to start the album out with since it explains the concept of the album. We will get to that in a bit though.

Right after the acoustic prelude, we dive into track number two, “Memories Of Misery”. You would actually expect this to be a slow rainy day song judging by the title, don’t be fooled though. Not even five seconds in and we already have a nice upbeat rhythm going on. I don’t really have anything good to say about the next few tracks, so I’m going to save you some time and tell you that they pretty much sound the same as Memories Of Misery. Even the albums title track “Zero” faults, whereas it should be one of the top listens. I think this was one of my LEAST favorites on the album actually.

Now, lets move on to some songs I do recommend giving a listen on Zero. “Anywhere But Here,” This is where I started to get interested in the album. This is definitely one of the best songs that Hawthorne Heights has released in a while to me. Just listening to this gave me the feeling like I was listening to the first two albums with no screaming. The instrumental work gives off an edgy touch to me, which I’m sure it will be different for everyone but I’m sure this will be one of the fan favorites also. “Put Me Back Together” is by far my favorite on the album and has the catchiest chorus line, the guitar work stands out a lot more in this song also. Good news for all of you that were wanting screaming, Put Me Back Together has it! “Ghost Town” is my third and final recommendation, although it is one of the gloomier lyrically written songs it does have a pleasant sound to it. Give it a listen and see for yourself.

Finally, the album ends with “Over And Out (Transmission 2)” which definitely explains the story concept more than anything else on the album. It was too late though, as I was already highly confused by the end. The lyrics just seem to not flow with the overall story. I’m not really sure Hawthorne Heights reached their full potential on this album. It does have some highlights though.

– Alex G.