Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon recently said that they are as much a metal band now as Fall Out Boy are a pop-punk band. This shows the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the sudden switch in genre facing the majority of rock bands out there. On one hand you have Bring Me The Horizon who have naturally changed overtime, realising their metal-core sound could be dramatically improved with more concentration on synth and production. On the other hand you have FOB who clearly saw that they could churn out more chart hits with repetitive drum loops, even though they already have a real life functioning drummer.

Yeah guys. This is the current state of rock music - the constant struggle to change the genre. Now with the sudden growth and demand of soft-core coming mostly out of the United States, Mayday Parade, traditionally a nice throwback to a softer pop-punkier time, announced that their latest album Black Lines would be heavier than their previous work.

Now I say heavier, this album is no Slipknot. But from traditional romantic pop punk with flawless vocals, Black Lines explodes out the gate with One Of Them Will Destroy The Other.  Where veteran Mayday Parade fans would expect a lone vocal seemingly woven in velvet dripped along to a  piano introduction, we are instead treated to a soft-core throat scratching rough emotion bomb straight out of the books of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!

This album is clearly a sudden gear shift for Mayday Parade who refuse to play safe with this 5th outing and, with the help of Fearless Records and Mike Sapone, have made a rougher, grittier and more emotion filled album than we have ever seen from the act before. Now that isn't saying that key Mayday Parade Easter Eggs aren't still visible behind the new banner. Lead vocals Derek Sanders still drapes his velvet tones over the choruses before returning to the torn black scarves of the verse and in the album's final song One Of Us, Mayday Parade seemingly forget what had gone before and deliver a typical track which could have literally been picked out of any of their previous albums.