We Came As Romans has been paving their wayward way for about ten years now. With their latest album, simply called “We Came As Romans”, this five-piece from Troy, Michigan, illustrates once more they are not afraid to reinvent themselves. Of course you’ll hear the clean vocals of Kyle Pavone, although far less auto-tuned than we’re used to, and the typical positive message We Came As Romans stands for. But you’ll also hear a lot of clean backings from screamer Dave Stephens and more modest intermezzi with samples to build up the contrast between the sing-a-long pieces we all know so well with this band. We even hear Dave rap in “Tear It Down”, a song that could just as well be released by Linkin Park or Papa Roach.  The only downside on this album is the simplicity of the musical arrangements in comparison to their older songs. The musical instruments seem to be of secondary importance to the samples which seem to be in their turn in function of the vocals. Nevertheless, this album has a couple of songs you have to listen. For example, “The World I Used To Know”, “Blur” and “Defiance” are tracks that in a live setting will be in line with older hits like “To Plant A Seed” and “To Move On Is To Grow”.

- Frederik Geuvens