Islander Power Under Control: An Album A Day

An Album A Day is posted 5 days a week, Monday-Friday

  

   Islander are an interesting band; their first album, Violence and Destruction was almost entirely one of nu metal revival, complete with a guest spot by POD front man Sonny Sandoval. But after literally the entire band left except for lead singer Mikey Carvajal, Islander’s sound also evolved, incorporating punk, alternative, ska punk, hip hop and modern metal into their sound. The album that came out of this mixing of genres was Power Under Control, which for my money is head and shoulders better than their debut.

    The lineup for this album consisted of JR Bareis on guitar, Arin Illejay on drums and Ezekiel Vasquez playing bass. Bareis is the current lead singer and guitarist for KoRn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch’s solo project, Illejay was the second drummer for Avenged Sevenfold and Vasquez was the bass player for alt rockers ForeverAtLast. Given the eclectic styles and influences each of these artists brings, not to mention the clear Deftones influence on Carvajal, it’s no wonder the album contains so many genres.

    The first thing I can say about Islander is that Carvajal is one of the greatest front men in the modern rock and metal scenes. First off, this guy have like 15 different ways of singing, ranging from death growls and screaming to legitimately good rap vocals, amazing cleans and a unique style that borrows from Che without being a rip off. On top of that, Carvajal owns every crowd that he plays in front of live, combining raw charisma with singing ability and a knack for never looking lost during instrumental breaks.

    The album as a whole is something that must be experienced in one sitting, while many songs are great on their own they all work better within the context of the album. Tracks like Darkness, Bad Guy, Think It Over and Casket work great as stand alone songs, but work way better within the semi narrative of the album. While there is no definite story, the placement of each song seems to have a general flow from a sinner lost in darkness to someone who has found meaning in life.

    Islander, similarly to Twenty One Pilots have songs that are filled with vague Christian themes and spiritual elements. These themes likely stem from Carvajal’s faith, who like Tyler Joseph is not interested in making Christian Rock music but doesn’t shy away from putting those themes into his lyrics. This is one of the better bands at writing songs that can be enjoyed both from a Christian perspective or just from rock or metal fan perspective.

    Some of the best moments on this album come from songs like Devil Red, Beelzebub and Casket that haphazardly switch from alternative rock tracks into full on metal songs before switching back again. The sharp contrast between Beelzebub’s xylophone driven sound to the harsh vocals and metal guitar on the climax is amazing and perfectly sums up the feel of this album. There are also elements of reggae and ska punk on this album that are played much straighter than the Papa Roach/ POD esque reggae nu metal of their first album.

    Calling this album nu metal doesn’t really feel right, but ultimately I don’t know what else to label this as. I feel like the Deftones’ influence is definitely felt here in the way that the album has an almost progressive feel that is too big for the nu metal moniker. Power Under Control also features some really slick production that allows soft tracks like Bad Guy to feel just as powerful as Green Slime Man or Darkness.

    This album overall is a masterpiece and a testament to what a creative and talented band can do with the much maligned nu metal genre. I truly believe if this album had came out in 2001 that Islander would be one of the biggest bands of the nu metal scene. It will be interesting to see if we get a third album from these guys and what it sounds like, especially since Carvajal and the rest of the band that were on this album have amicable split.

Album on Google Play
Album on Itunes
Album on Amazon