THE PLOT IN YOU | Dispose | Album Review

Change is inevitable in many bands of the present. This is true with many metalcore bands as we've seen plenty of them go for a more simplistic or softer sound to aim for a wider audience, and a lot of them have worked before. However, The Plot In You have different intentions in mind with their fourth studio album "Dispose". Where their previous three albums were more rooted in heaviness and breakdowns, and their previous album "Happiness In Self Destruction" featured an amalgamation of nu-metal and metalcore, this new album from "Dispose" is described by the band as a step into a new direction. Vocalist Landon Tewers, who previously performed in Before Their Eyes before starting this band has stated that he has been worn out by the breakdown tendency and that this isn't his main concern anymore, even going as far as stating in interviews before the album that he has had points in his career where he'd not continue making music in his band anymore, even though something has always kept him afloat. Now in 2018 comes this new record which is sort of a transition away from the sound that got them on the map, and while many longtime fans will be disappointed by the fact that there are really no songs like "Mind Controlled" featured here, there is still a bit of curiosity as to where The Plot In You can write a ten-track album that clocks in at just under 35 minutes in this fashion. 

If you've been following this band in the past year, you will know that music coming off of this project has been teased since June of 2017 with the release of the single "Feel Nothing" as well as an additional announcement of their signing to Fearless Records, everybody's favorite "core" label. On my first initial listens to the song, I was a bit surprised to see the band had gone a bit lighter and I originally felt that the song was pretty solid. However, when the album was announced later in 2017 and I revisited "Feel Nothing", I'll admit that it definitely didn't age as well throughout the months. Oddly enough, this track is one of the better tracks on the disc, and it does have somewhat of a flow from verse to chorus. Granted, it's still not a great song, and lyrically it's not that impressive, but there is an aspiration to make something good, but it just didn't translate as well as the months came on. Then, the album was announced and we got the second single, "Not Just Breathing". In all honestly, this track is a total dud. This song moves at a snail's pace and all of the sections of this song feel disjointed and unfinished. Not to mention Landon Tewers doesn't sound as believable in the choruses of this track whenever his screamed singing vocals come into play. What's even more unfortunate is that this song is the embodiment as to what you will mostly be delivered in terms of material on "Dispose". 

Now, on the bad scale, I will not say that this album is one of the worst albums I have ever heard and all of these ideas were all for nothing. I do believe that The Plot In You had potential here to deliver something decent and congruent. However, the format for almost every song on this album, especially in the first half of the album, is pretty much the same level of boring. The album starts off with a track entitled "Rigged", which falls in line with "Not Just Breathing" as being pretty shoddy. The frustrating part is that "Rigged" has elements to it that COULD be executed well and have potential, but looking at how "Rigged" is structured, these are sections that don't connect well and it's made worse with the awful lyrics in the first "verse" of the song, which have a stark contrast to the stylistic tone that takes center stage in the opening minute of the track. Tracks like "Paid In Full" and album closer "Disposable Fix" also have elements that I do approve of, but "Paid In Full" isn't very memorable aside from a breakdown near the end, and "Disposable Fix" has the same problem as the opening song with a cringy first half and a second half that has good ideas that are not even birthed yet. Not only that, but there is an interlude entitled "Happy" that doesn't really add to the album, and since the album is ten tracks, it's one of those albums where it's just nine songs and one two-minute filler track that sounds like it came out of a warped audiobook. Nothing is structured very well on this album, and that include Landon Tower's vocals throughout the album sounding phoned in. 

I listened to this album three times to try to find some sort of meaning and quality within this album, and there is one single track on this album that fits that description, that being "The One I Loved". This track actually shows The Plot In You working with the style that they were attempting to deliver on "Dispose", and it actually has a flow and a vibe to it. It's a track that actually has a pulse among nine other tracks that barely seem to come close, even with their good elements. If the rest of the album was like this cut and there were more diverse ideas that were actually fully formed, I would completely understand the band's vision during the sessions for this album. But, instead we get an album where 70 percent of it follows the format of boring atmospheric verse with iffy lyrics followed by a promising section that isn't fleshed out as well as it should have been. Nothing on this album is atrocious or repugnant in nature,  but when an album is 10 tracks and only one of them has a semblance of flow and character to it, it's really hard to give the album an accepting pass. Overall, I don't recommend this album to anybody aside from "The One I Loved", not even people looking for an album like this. If you want a better album from this band, "Happiness In Self Destruction" is one to go after, not this. This album is better off disposed on a vacant store shelf somewhere. 

RATING: 3/10

What did you think about the record? Was it good? Was it bad? Let me know in the comments below. And of course, these are only my opinions. If your opinions are different, awesome! If they're similar, then that's great, too. So, don't hesitate- comment to me about it down below. Take care.