February 10 served as a massively important day for all emo kids, former emo kids and everyone else in between. Legendary emo and post-hardcore band Pierce The Veil released their heavily anticipated full-length album “The Jaws Of Life” nearly a decade after “Misadventures”, which released May 13, 2016. The prolific band sits on the pedestal with other juggernauts of the genre, such as Falling in Reverse and Sleeping With Sirens. 

The instrumental for the newest release primed audiences to gain excitement for the original pioneers of the beloved genre. The expectation for the band became vastly extreme: to place respect back into peoples’ minds when they think of the concept of emo music. Guitar riffs blaring, experimental vocals and mind-blowing lyricism on part of the San Diego trio, the cynicism fans carried quickly began to resurface. 

“I’ve seen people use the age-old excuse of, ‘oh, you just don’t like it because it’s different’ when that couldn’t be any farther from the truth. Stylistic change isn’t the issue here, it’s the lack of creativity, energy … and just a lack of musical ideas in general. And besides, this whole ‘stylistic change’ is almost entirely composed of [things] you’ve already heard done numerous times before except it’s somehow even more mediocre in this case. The songwriting is so dull that when you hear the verse and the chorus, you’ve essentially heard the full song and the instrumentals are so bland you could convince me that they weren’t even trying,” reviewer David Smiley said.

“Pass the Nirvana” stands as a perfect example of the self-fulfilling and devastating prophecy that the band had fallen into. The song includes a short, bland bridge that arguably screams the clip-ability for it to become a TikTok or Instagram reel audio. A band that once inspired dozens of others within the alternative sphere now simmers out with a whimper. Seven long and exhausting years for it to only fall flat on its face and enter obscurity. The 40-minute album could not even gain over 50 thousand listeners on release day—a laughing stock compared to previous releases. However, certain NC students hold the newest piece by the band in much higher regard.

“I thought it was pretty good! I really loved how it had the classic PTV emotional feel, whilst keeping the emo-rock music feel. but some of my friends were saying they didn’t like it and it wasn’t emo or rock enough. [Nevertheless] emo and alternative culture [have] evolved a lot after TikTok. TikTok has acted as a catalyst for the alternative culture by acting as a mass medium for the dispersion of media/information. I think that emo and alt culture has become a lot more toxic after TikTok, it seems as though people are judging each other more and becoming chronically online,” junior Brenna Schmoock said.

The Chant’s Grade: C+