Legends are found in music
Wilmington, N.C. natives Schuylar Croom, Adam Tanbouz, Matt Williams and Jesse Shelley are known as He is Legend and on June 28th the band released their sixth album titled White Bat. This record is quite interesting because it consists of a mixture of heavy and low key rock/metal music. There are several tracks on the album where metal music can be heard and in the forefront while southern rock is blaring from the background. When those two music formations merge together, it creates the music their fans want to hear.
Croom’s vocals can pitch perfectly on high notes, Tanbouz’s guitar playing is wild because he is able to play those loud riffs fans love, Williams’s bass guitar can be heard heavily rumbling in the background and the band’s new drummer Shelley contributes to the music by creating those fast and heavy drum beats. There are also songs which displays the softer side of the band and the songs do have a unique style due to how Croom’s vocals sing in harmony while Tanbouz provides an electrifying sound from his guitar. Also, William’s bass guitar creates a secular tune in the background while Shelley’s rhythmic drum beats perfectly matches the theme of the song. What is amusing about White Bat is how it is filled with a sense of imagination since in some ways some of the songs are storytellers since the lyrics are about scary events like the boogie man coming alive at night. If fans loved the band’s album Few, then they will surely appreciate and enjoy the music White Bat presents to them.
On the album there is a song called “BoogieWoman” and the song is unique because the lyrics are telling a love story about how a boogie woman falls in love with a lonely boogie man. The boogie woman offers the boogie man herself and both of them take each other’s hand and become a couple who rule the night. In some ways, it is a classic love story for the listeners because some of them may have that one person who is always beside them and they both go and rule their futures together. The sound of the song is pretty wild as at the beginning of the song the laughing voice of the boogie man can be heard before Tanbouz starts to play a heavy guitar riff, Williams’s bass guitar can be heard blaring in tune from the background, Shelley’s drumming is powerful on this track as he has a creative drum solo toward the end of the song and Croom’s vocals are dynamic because of how grungy he can sing on the high notes. When listening, it does sound like he is telling the story about the two boogie people falling in love because his vocals do persuade listeners to imagine what the love story looks and feels like while the band performs the song. This song is a fun tune because the creativeness draws the imagination of what love is like for the boogie woman and boogie man.
The next song which captures listeners attention is called “Burn All Your Rock Records” and this song is just as wild due to the content of the lyrics and how the band adds a twist of southern rock into the metal. The lyrics tells a story about a small guy who distrusts people who listen to loud rock music and he also hated seeing people dancing in the streets with happy faces while the rock music is playing. The people did not mind the negative attitude the small guy had but they started to care when all of their rock records were destroyed in the fire and the small guy enjoyed hearing the people crying into the night. Also listeners can relate to this song because it displays the realism of how we have negative people in our lives and how those people do something mean to stop our happiness. Tanbouz leads the song off with a small guitar solo before the rest of the band chimes in and the sounds from the band is pure metal which can cause fans to bang their heads to the music, Williams’s bass guitar plays a quiet and loud rumble in the background while Shelley’s beats the drum heads with energy and Croom’s vocals are loud and proud on this track as his shrieks provides the electric feeling of the song and his voice harmonizes well when the band plays a lower tune toward the end. In the middle of the song, there is a small twang of southern rock and the sound of the rock blending in with the metal shows how creative the band is. Fans will enjoy this song because it does consist of creativeness and heavy rock/metal music they will love.
There is a song titled “Resister, Resist Her” on White Bat is different from the rest of the songs because it is an emotional rock/metal ballad. The lyrics of the song provides an emotional glimpse of a man who is conflicted about the woman he is with and the reason why he feels conflicted is because he knows it is time to move on and he wants her to know it is time for both of them to move on with or without each other. Without the music, the lyrics gives the details about how the man feels when thinking about wanting to have a better life for himself and his woman. The song starts of with Tanbouz and Williams playing a classic blues tune which is followed by Croom’s grungy vocals provided and he does a great job bringing the emotions of the song with his voice because listeners can hear and feel the desperation through Croom’s voice and Shelley’s drumming is by far dynamic on this track as it provides the rock and blues beat which helps with the theme of the songs. Listeners can relate to this song because at some point in our lives we have moved on with or without the person we care about and sometimes leaving that person behind can be a blessing or just like the song, it can become complicated when it is hard to resist the person we care about.
Overall, White Bat is a great album which displays the legendary status of the band and fans will not be disappointed because the album is filled with creative heavy music they have been yearning for. He is Legend is on tour and people who are not familiar with the band should go and see them live because they could relate to the music.
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