I recently saw The Word Alive live for the 3rd time and this time they really impressed me. They opened up with the fan favourite 2012, which was interesting because that is usually their encore song. They surprised me when played my favourite song Lights and Stones form their first album Deceiver, for a while there I thought they may have tossed it from their set for good after their new album Life Cycles dropped, which I'll make a few comments about further on. What really made respect TWA this time however was their front man, Telle Smith.
I don't know if he got better or if I wasn't paying attention last time or if the sound was better at this venue but for some reason, his vocals sounded AMAZING that night. I will also give him props because we were TWA's 2nd to last stop on their tour so that means his vocal chords should be worn out, but boy did he prove that idea wrong. His vocals sounded fresh and strong throughout the whole set and he displayed his highs and lows with ease, holding out all the ones he had to. His singing was also on point as well. His vocals in their song Lights and Stones are pretty tough to sing live and in the middle of the set but he pulled them off perfectly. Like I said I don't know what factors were at play last time but he definitely had his stuff down this night. On stage he's also really great with the crowd, trying to get everyone involved in their music, however off stage he is more secluded and sometimes will not come out for signings. For the most part though he will, but I guess the better you are the more people you'll have after you all the time and I could imagine you'd want a break from it after a while. The rest of the band including their newest member, drummer, Luke Holland, 
Now about their new album. I wasn't completely satisfied with it and in my opinion didn't live up to its expectations, but that's pretty hard when your predecessor was Deceiver. Being a drummer, I listen out for those parts a lot (obviously) and they were just not up to par with the rest of the album. Now, they did lose their old drummer whom wrote the parts in Deceiver, and Matt Horn did fill in, but I think that was a bad move. I understand they had a deadline to reach to release the album but I think it compromised the album causing the drums to be lacking. As a fill in drummer, you would just listen to what the rest of the band wants, you wont show your true flavor and style because you're a fill in, there's no need. However now that they have Luke as their set drummer, maybe their next album he will feel 100% part of the band, which he is, and bring in his style and writing potential into play. Maybe this will kick up the drum parts in the new album, because frankly, the ones in Life Cycles were boring. It was like they were just playing with a post-hardcore drum metronome. They didn't stand out on their own, but like I said in reality they shouldn't since it was a fill in drummer. So, yeah a bit of a vicious circle in a way. One interesting thing a few people may not have considered is that TWA could easily pull off a style such as Periphery or Born Of Osiris if they wanted too. Maybe not as intense, but they could hold their own. If you have ever heard their song Smoke Monster than you'll know why I'm saying this. It was an interesting song they released whose first 2 minutes were very entertaining and fresh coming from them. I personally would become a bigger TWA fan if they went that direction, being that Life Cycles was a bit of a weak album for that style. Nonetheless, The Word Alive is a great band to watch live, they're one of the few bands who still play "face melting solos" and nail em live. Its not all processed studio magic. If you haven't heard them yet I recommend you check them out. TWA is a band full of talented musicians; lets see where they take their style too in their new album which will probably be recorded very soon.
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