I've gone back and forth on this album more than once over the last few days.
On paper, Requiem For A Pipe Dream should be exactly the sort of thing I enjoy. Cyhra know how to write a hook, Jake E remains a great vocalist, and there are enough big choruses here to keep most melodic metal fans happy for weeks. Yet every time I finished the album, I found myself struggling to remember large parts of it.
That's probably my main issue with the record.
It's not bad. Not even close. In fact, there are stretches where Cyhra sound genuinely inspired. "Mark Of My Sins" is easily one of the strongest songs here and feels like the band firing on all cylinders. "Ghostbound" stuck with me as well, and I found myself replaying "Miss Me When I'm Gone" more than a few times. When the band lock into a good chorus, they still know exactly what they're doing.
The problem is that not every song leaves the same impression. A few tracks would finish and I'd immediately struggle to recall anything about them beyond a vocal melody or a guitar line. Nothing actively annoyed me, but not much surprised me either.
The re-recordings threw me off a little, too. Seeing older songs appear again on what is supposed to be a new studio album felt slightly odd. Not enough to ruin the experience, but enough that I kept noticing it.
Production-wise, everything sounds exactly as you'd expect from a modern melodic metal release. It's polished, clear and radio-ready. Whether that's a positive or a negative probably depends on what you're looking for. Personally, I kept wishing the band would lean harder into the heavier side of their sound. Whenever they do, the album becomes noticeably more interesting.
Maybe that's why my feelings remain mixed. I never disliked Requiem For A Pipe Dream. I enjoyed quite a bit of it, actually. At the same time, I never had that moment where the album completely grabbed me and refused to let go.
A week from now I'll probably still be listening to "Mark Of My Sins". I'm just not sure how much of the rest of the album I'll remember.
That's not a disaster by any means. It's a decent record from a talented band. I just came away hoping for a little more.
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