专辑简介

Excellent primer EP for an excellent solo outing from dEFY front man, full of passionate emotions and top-notch production.

Released some months before the full-length Severing the Tie, dEFY front man Avi Ghosh's Watch the World Burn is an excellent companion EP that offers listeners five more helpings of his excellent production and songwriting. The overall tone of these songs is not dissimilar from that of Severing the Tie, written during an emotionally trying time, leading to comparisons to Nine Inch Nails. This is especially true in the pop rock leanings of "Inside," which features a deceptively simple bass line augmented by a heavy helping of gritty guitars and powerful percussion, topped off by Ghosh's emotive vocals. With lyrics like "She makes me feel so close and satisfied / she always feeds my appetite," the song could easily have been lifted off The Downward Spiral or even The Fragile if not for Ghosh's impassioned voice, keeping melody without resorting to unnecessary screaming. The tense instrumental, "A Prologue to the End" begins the EP with discordant synth leads and intricate drum programming reminiscent of Gary Numan's more recent work. The song beckons a vocal performance that never arrives, though the listener hardly suffers for it as it leads seamlessly into "Don't Take Me Back," in which a restrained and almost gothic chorus of light guitars, melancholy pianos, and minimal electro beats give way to a shattering chorus of angst-ridden screams, thrashing power chords, and thunderous drums. While it's not entirely unpredictable, the juxtaposition of morose melody with vitriolic rage makes for a very poignant song. The same can be said for the harrowing title track, which is almost radio-friendly, although "The Distance Apart" is even more so with its major-key progression of acoustic strums and light keyboard touches. The lyrics run the fine line between being poetic and problematic, for we've all heard songs about heartbreak and rejection time and time again, but Ghosh's sincerity is quite evident throughout; this does not come across as the work of someone who hasn't felt these emotions in the most real way. Watch the World Burn proves to be not only an effective companion EP to Severing the Tie, but serves almost as prologue to the anger of that album, resulting first in the sadness giving way to healing. Throw in some top-notch production, and you've got a recipe for one of the finest artists to emerge in the modern music world.