I Am the Avalanche

"Oh no, I'm so fucking undependable/But you have to admit that's part of my charm" goes the first verse to "New Disaster," a couplet that neatly sums up the emo-licious self-satisfaction at the heart of I Am the Avalanche. This album's songs were supposedly written by singer and guitarist Vinnie Caruana (ex-Movielife) following an intense breakup; this goes a long way toward explaining the alternately petulant and miserable lyrics of songs like "I Took a Beating" and "My Second Restraining Order." The "I got it bad and that's the way I like it" lyrics aside, I Am the Avalanche offer a fairly standard-issue brand of heavy post-hardcore that adds little to the human store of knowledge about the style. Overall, this makes I Am the Avalanche an album that was no doubt deeply cathartic to make, but not particularly interesting to hear. Points for the excellent '50s-comics-inspired artwork, though.