ATTWN
File:
Who Will Speak for Planet Earth
by And Then There Were
None
Reviewed by Caleb Newell
"Who Will Speak For Planet Earth is a techno powerhouse album enhanced with powerful lyrics."
Formed in 2003, And
Then There Were None (ATTWN) now consists of six vegans. ATTWN was started
by five best friends all sharing a love
of writing and recording music. ATTWN built a solid fan base and began attracting
attention from the press and labels. It’s been six years and they are
still here, and creating rave. They have also partnered with Peta2 to educate
and enlighten fans. The past year has been busy for ATTWN; signing with Tooth & Nail,
a line up change, the addition of new members, and a new sound (from metalcore
to techno). Front man Matt Rhoades stated, “Eventually I ran out of
ideas for writing metal music and began to write what came more naturally.
To me, dance music is positive . . . still incredibly emotionally based .
. . [and] more creative freedom in the writing process. I finally feel as
though ATTWN has found its own unique sound.”
Who Will Speak For Planet Earth is a techno powerhouse album enhanced with
powerful lyrics. “Intro” is a cacophony of radio tuning, news
broadcasts, techno, and white noise.
“Arsonist” talks about a firefighter, who purposely starts fires, just
to be the hero at the end of the day. He still gets caught, but he knows
that no one would understand what lead him to do this act. Then it goes on
to tackle what could result from this prideful act.
The story of an estranged father-and-son relationship is presented in “The
Hospital”, which represents a place of healing for the son and father.
The son just wants the father to start the “healing process”.
The next tract tackles the temptation of the flesh. “Reinventing Robert
Cohn” seems to hit the nail on the head describing the sinful nature
of how lust draws many people in, “she’s in my blood/and like
a fire inside me/consumes the air/ then leads me blindly/ she has my hopes
and dreams/ and she’s the one I see/ who screams go on go on/she doesn’t
know who I am/ I really want to tell her that this can’t go on tonight”.
"ACTION” talks about the choice we have to be a broken person
living life so “lovelessly” or a fertile seed, which has the
potential to grow into something beautiful. It also says how we just repent
and use
that as a basis to keep sinning and that “the closest thing to perfect/
is the farthest thing from me”.
The spiritual realm is represented by “The Atmosphere”. Someone
has just died at the beginning of the song, and she was swept into death
before she knew what happened. She’s on here way to Heaven and she
thinks she has finally found Him (God). As “spiritual beings” we
are like the atmosphere, you can’t see it but you know it’s there,
and we are on the winning side. Plus we can’t die because of Christ’s
power over death. There are also others joining her as the song progresses.
The conclusion is finally a pray for “Daylight” (God) to take
us and lead us home.
“Cloak and Dagger” is another nail-head hitter, except this one is about
the addiction to pleasure through “cheap pills and cheap thrills.” Not
only is this the thrill of the generation, to numb life through pills, but
it shares how empty you will still feel, and will always feel, trying to
escape this life until “sleep” (death) comes. The song also touches
on things done in secret and how they eat at you. ATTWN also entangles the “tempter” from “Reinventing
Robert Cohn” into this song. The echoing techno mention of God is the
only hint to Him on the entire CD (a complete disappointment for me, though
it thrills me more that He is mentioned . . . finally).
Richard Marx’s “Right Here Waiting” is a classical add-on
to this modern techno dance album. Though the song is revived by techno rifts
and fast paced lyrics, and makes you want to get on the dance floor and “boogie-woogie”;
the older version is still better, but this one isn’t too shabby.
"Bed of Nails”, “Watchmaker”, “The Alamo”, and “Insozz” are
the last four songs. Vague meanings make it hard to get the exact message
from the songs, and the techno rifts make it hard to hear some of the lyrics.
However, the album is still a great addition to any music collection. If
in fact you like techno, just turn up the volume and enjoy “Who Speaks
for Planet Earth”.
