Worse Than Alone [Vinyl]

Vinyl came in as described couldnt ask for more thanks

Ordered vinyl, did not receive vinyl. I received a cd. So that really stunk! This cd is awesome for math core lovers though! Love the band but the seller didn't even have vinyl to give me!

Fantastic album, some of the best drumming ever. Great gang vocals.

Passion over fashion.

Amazing

The Number Twelve Looks Like You might not be the best grindcore band of the new millennium, or even of their own respective state (they fall behind The Dillinger Escape Plan, Burnt By The Sun, and Discordance Axis for being the king of New Jersey-bred grind), but they were a very good and promising group nonetheless. As evidenced by their fourth and final release, 2009's "Worse Than Alone," they were the possessors of impeccable musicianship and innovative, intelligent songwriting. And they might first and foremost be a grindcore band, but it is actually a little misleading to say that they can be pigeonholed into just one genre because they combine together tech-y grind with elements of math/noisecore, hardcore, metalcore, jazz, screamo, death metal, and even progressive rock. Hence, their influences cover a myriad of fellow math-obsessed extreme metallists, including (but not limited to) TDEP, Converge, Meshuggah, Fantomas, The Fall Of Troy, Between The Buried And Me, and F The Facts.Tracks like the opening "Glory Kingdom" (which finds a noteworthy bass intro giving way to an awesomely huge and brutal breakdown, followed by a succession of throat-tearing grindcore with blasting drums, roaring vocals, and funky, walking bass lines) and "To Catch A Tiger," with its equally-as-momentous breakdown and unorthodox, cheese-grater-esque, pulling the listener's eardrums in every direction guitar work, evoke vintage Dillinger. (Think their "Calculating Infinity" to "Irony Is A Dead Scene" era.) And other cuts, such as "If They Holler," which begins as a piece of straight-up death-jazz before accelerating to blistering noisegrind territory, sound more along the lines of classic Botch, while the steady-build up and climax into frenzied grindcore territory (with brutal vocals and frenetic musicianship) of "Marvin's Jungle" is reminiscent of the likes of Car Bomb.But no matter how boldly TN12LLY wear their influences on their sleeves, most of "Worse Than Alone" produces a sound that is distinctly all its own. Take, for example, track number two, "Given Life." Its unnervingly high screams/shrieks conjure up memories of Psyopus, as do its frantic drum fills. But the tune's straightforward guitar work (i.e. chainsaw-fast chugging) and fairly lengthy, harmonic bridge (complete with clean vocals) sound way out of the realm of that band. "Garden's" is also of note from a melodic standpoint, as it, too, utilizes some accomplished clean singing, and even a melodic, low-key, and even borderline atmospheric-sounding section. With that said, though, this song is actually mostly of note for its excellent rhythm section, which is fleshed out, here, thanks to an excellent bass/drum intro, and some especially jazzy drumming (including the use of tight cymbal rides)."League" is another standout, as it features some really interesting, technical, and rubbery bass lines and clean vocals that are used almost exclusively, as is the album's epically epic conclusion, "I'll Make My Own Hours," which clocks in at nine-minutes and thirteen seconds in length. However, the record's biggest highlights are actually found elsewhere, in "Retort" and "Serpentine." The former is an uber-math-y, noisy, and dissonant grindcore freak-out with frenzied grindcore blasts and an excellent, lengthy, progressive, and exceptionally dexterous drum solo tacked on at the end; and the latter is a cool instrumental interlude that is centered around a beautiful piano line and some screwy, ambient, industrial music-like sound effects. It all serves as a brief oasis to allow the listener to breathe, albeit only for eighty-one seconds.In conclusion, it's just too darn bad that The Number Twelve Looks Like You disbanded, because they were clearly onto something big, here. Granted, if accessible, traditional, straight-forward heaviness is your cup of tea, then you will definitely need to stay far, far away from "Worse Than Alone." But if that was the case, then you probably wouldn't even be reading this review in the first place, "W.T.A." is a challenging yet rewarding and meticulously-crafted piece of math-y grindcore, and quite possibly the genre's most inventive, original, and unique-sounding release to see the light of day in all of 2009.

It's taken me awhile to digest this album much like it took me awhile to digest Mongrel. But after months of tuning in and out of the album I finally took a good listen and I have to say, I love this album.Regardless of how great the album really is, The Number 12 is an acquired taste. So, needless to say, Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear and Mongrel took me awhile to get into. But, honestly, I never liked the former so much. Mongrel was OK for me but it wasn't an album that would stay in my CD player for too long. As much as I wanted to love it, the problem was, I couldn't stay interested long enough. Sure, Mongrel had it's moments, but it was a flawed effort and I felt annoyed at the vocals quite honestly. I love the idea behind them, but the constant high-pitched screams definitely have me a headache and that's partly why I had trouble consistently listening to it.Mongrel wasn't bad, but it wasn't perfect. This album had everything I wanted from Mongrel. The high pitched vocals are still there, but this time around, they're not anywhere near as annoying. Probably because they're a lot more cushioned then they were before. Mongrel had very raw sounding vocals. Also we have a lot more deep growling in this album and it complements the screams very nicely.Glory Kingdom starts it off, and it's definitely one of my favorites. It's not a melodic as some of the other tracks, but it's just way too catchy not to love. Once it gets to the creepy interlude of the song where "my sword longs to be wrapped with flesh" is chanted, you'll just get mesmerized but the creepiness of the song and the amazing cymbal-work of Jon Karel, who, in my opinion, is one of the best drummers out there right now.The rest of the album experiments a lot more with the jazz aspects of The Number 12, and it's just so well done that I was simply floored. Simply put, this is my favorite release by them and I feel like they're peaking now.I love the talent in Mongrel, but I love the song writing and creativeness in Worse Than Alone even more. If you're a Number 12 fan, or a mathcore fan, or just want to hear something different, then check this album out.

Their are some of the best songs of #12's career on this record, along with a couple I'm not quite sure about. Without going into a lot of explanation, this album gives a more diverse (if possible) sound than any of their previous efforts. The hard parts are harder, the melodic parts are softer, but the main thing is their voices have greatly improved as far as singing goes on this record. Their screams have always been great, but this is the first album in which the singing at points out shines the screaming.Key tracks:Glory Kingdom-Heavy and awesomeThe Garden's All Nighters-Incredibly diverse, great guitar workThe League of Endangered Oddities-Great vocals, interesting instrumentalsI'll Make My Own Hours-Some of the best heavy parts they've done, with some amazing guitar work.I haven't said much on this, but I believe the guitar AND the drums are what made this band in the past, on this record it feels like every instrument (including vocals) is on the same page. Amazing drumming and guitar as usual, vocals are slightly more rounded.