Deceiver (The Word Alive album)
Debut metalcore album with a deluxe edition and two singles.
Deceiver is the debut studio album by American metalcore band The Word Alive, released on August 31, 2010, through Fearless Records. The title comes from a lyric in the chorus of the song "The Wretched". It is the band's only album with drummer Justin Salinas and the final one with bassist Nicholas Urlacher and keyboardist Dusty Riach.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- The Word Alive
- Released
- 31 August 2010
- Recorded
- April 2010
- Studio
- Wade (Ocala, Florida); Leeway Music (Memphis, Tennessee)
- Genre
- Metalcore
- Length
- 41:56
- Label
- Fearless
- Producer
- Andrew Wade
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hounds of Anubis | The Word Alive | 4:13 |
| 2 | Epiphany | The Word Alive | 4:02 |
| 3 | The Wretched (featuring Dave Stephens of We Came as Romans) | The Word Alive, Joshua Moore | 4:05 |
| 4 | Consider It Mutual | The Word Alive | 5:01 |
| 5 | 2012 (featuring Levi Benton of Miss May I) | The Word Alive, Tom Denney | 3:01 |
| 6 | Dream Catcher | The Word Alive | 3:24 |
| 7 | Like Father Like Son | The Word Alive | 4:43 |
| 8 | Battle Royale (re-recorded version; original version from Empire) | The Word Alive, Tony Aguilera | 3:56 |
| 9 | You're All I See | The Word Alive | 3:50 |
| 10 | We Know Who You Are | The Word Alive | 5:35 |
| Total length | 41:56 | ||
Track listing from the source article.
Background and promotion
After touring the US following their EP Empire, The Word Alive began work on Deceiver. The album was recorded in April 2010 in Ocala, Florida with producer Andrew Wade. Smith credited Nick Johns, also known as "Nicky Scene", for much of the album's content, stating the band aimed to surpass Empire in every aspect. The first single "Epiphany" premiered online, and the second single "The Hounds of Anubis" debuted on the Revolver website.
The album includes a re-recording of "Battle Royale", originally the opening track of Empire. A lyric in "Consider It Mutual" references the final track of Empire, "How to Build an Empire". Early copies of Deceiver contain a typo on the booklet's backside reading "Produced, engineered and by Andrew Wade". A deluxe edition was released digitally on June 7, 2011, featuring two previously unreleased tracks ("Apologician" and "Lights and Stones"), two cover songs ("Heartless" and "Over the Mountain"), remixes of "The Hounds of Anubis", "The Wretched", and "2012" (with the first remixed by Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland), and music videos for "2012" and "The Wretched".
Critical reception
Deceiver received generally positive reviews from critics. AllMusic noted the album covers familiar territory but highlighted the guitar work of Tony Pizzuti and Zack Hansen as intricate and fast, offering surprises for metalcore listeners. Alternative Press remarked on the relentless drive and aggression of many songs. Zach Redrup of Dead Press! called the debut surpassing expectations, stating Tyler Smith had pushed his former band into overdrive.
KillYourStereo rated the album 75 out of 100, saying it lives up to hype and keeps the metalcore spark alive. Nathan Lay of SMN News observed the album improves as it plays through, unlike many releases that lose steam, and compared it favorably to Empire, calling Deceiver heavier, more intricate, more powerful, and more aggressive lyrically and musically. Negative comments focused on the clean singing vocals; Lambgoat described them as "estrogen enhanced emo [vocals]" and criticized the album as commercial mall-metal with fast guitar flurries mixed with stupid-sounding synths.
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