Fort Lauderdale musician Daniel Rucerito lists classic alt-rock bands like Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode as inspiration for 7th Storey, the independent music project he created and also fronts, produces and manages. With pounding percussion and decidedly dark melodies, debut album The Temple Is Dirty makes an obvious attempt to mirror those masters. But while Rucerito’s effort is valiant, the album is mired with metal-music clichés, making it difficult for it to shed its amateurish skin.
The album opens with “The Day That Changed The World To Night,” a pulsating apocalyptic tale of destruction and change. The hooks are catchy, but the lyrics are bland and unimaginative, replete with obvious lines like “I wish I could go back in time when everyone felt so safe” leaving it ultimately unsatisfactory.
The title track, “The Temple Is Dirty,” is more musically sophisticated than its predecessor, interweaving some interesting synth beats with its more melancholy guitar hooks. Lyrically, this second track is a considerable step above the first as well, digging into the dangers of addiction and self-control with a series of sustainable turns of phrase and creative rhyming. However, “The Temple Is Dirty” could find improvement in its vocals. While Rucerito’s singing voice is perfunctory enough, the track sinks into a monotone towards the end; more varied notes and octaves might succeed in livening it up.
The album’s religious and philosophical undertones, evidenced, of course, in its title, come out in full force in “When It All Comes Down,” The Temple Is Dirty’s seventh track. Rucerito notes the Holy Grail and the Egyptian prophecies; lines like “When it all comes down/to the moment/I’ll be praying to live/Because I remember what you did/For all of us” recalls Jesus and the Second Coming. The track starts out semi-strong, but wears out quickly with tedious repetition and a, once again, monotonous melody.
Overall, while The Temple Is Dirty offers up some interesting moments, most of the tracks are indistinguishable from one another, stirring dark instrumentation and lackluster lyricism into a rather uninspiring soup. Stronger lyrics and a more unique musical repertoire might add a little spark to 7th Storey’s sophomore attempt.
Key Tracks: The Temple Is Dirty, My Reflections, One More Bedtime Story
Rebecca Fishbein – MuzikReviews.com Contributor
July 20, 2010
