Artist: Cue The Doves
Album: Architectures of the Atmosphere
Label: Dead Letter Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: March 21, 2006

Overall: 7.9
Music: 8.0
Lyrics: 8.1
Production: 7.7

Cue the Doves are a combination of musicians with very unique common interests. Their mutual love for sci-fi, extraterrestrial life, and alien abductions is apparent in their lyrics, as well as general tone of music. As requested by founding member, Jon Berndtson, a former member of The Beautiful Mistake, I am making my own classifications of this band, and it’s not an easy task.

First off, I find a lot of my opinion of a band in their vocalist. Ryan Von Bergen is the pick of the litter. His voice achieves the intensity you find in the hardcore scene, but the pitch control you’d hear from a vocalist who had been classically trained for years. His ability to layer his vocal tracks as well as include the screaming & singing of two other members is something becoming increasingly rare in the ‘sing your heart out’ scene.

Musically, this band is a force to be reckoned with. After years of playing bass, Jon Berndtson has made the switch to guitar, and the newly added Jake Quam on drums, Greg Burmeister playing guitar and Neck Gerhart on bass, Cue the Doves has assembled a powerful lineup. Delicate picking transforms into destructive mysterious riffs that build on top of each other far higher than you’d ever expect.

‘Majestic Twelve’ is a musical introduction that leads directly into the passionate, vocally driven ‘Sphere of the Abyss.’ Dominated by technical musicianship, simple but booming drums, and clear melodic melodies, this record is strongly begun. Lyrics that question life meaning, spiritual insight, and mortality, this album is filled with standout songs. The band continues to tear down barriers between the pigeon-hole of hardcore and the endless oceans of melody.

Eerie, paranormal hardcore rock that raises the bar for musical intricacy; Cue the Doves is a band to keep your eyes on and your ears open to. Architectures of the Atmosphere far surpasses most records in the genre. If experience serves me correct, this band has many good things ahead of them. Don’t take my word for it, go pick up this record!

Track Listing
1. Majestic Twelve
2. Sphere of the Abyss
3. An Astronomer’s Ellipse
4. The Balance
5. Course One: The Abductions
6. Architectures of the Atmosphere
7. The Red Planet Falls
8. Peregrine Mountain: The Aftermath
9. Hallucinations
10. Escape The Cell