Deceiver (The Word Alive album)

Deceiver
Studio album by The Word Alive
Released	August 31, 2010
Recorded	April 2010 at Wade Studios
Genre	Metalcore, experimental metal
Length	41:48
Label	Fearless
Producer	Andrew Wade
The Word Alive chronology
Empire (2009) Deceiver (2010)
Deceiver: Deluxe Edition
Cover for the deluxe edition of Deceiver.

Deceiver is the debut full-length album by metalcore band The Word Alive. The title derives from a passage of lyrics within the chorus of the song "The Wretched". With anticipation of the album following up to their critically acclaimed EP Empire, the band promoted it for several months until leading to its release on August 31, 2010 through Fearless Records. It was produced by Andrew Wade and is the first release by the band with drummer Justin Salinas, and final with bassist Nicholas Urlacher.

A deluxe edition of the record was released on June 7, 2011 and features bonus content consisting of four remixed tracks along with two previously unreleased songs and the music videos for the songs "2012" and "The Wretched".

Background

With anticipation of their full-length debut album after releasing the EP, Empire during the previous year,^[1] The Word Alive began work on Deceiver after several US tours. It was recorded during April 2010 in Ocala, Florida with producer Andrew Wade. Guitarist, Zack Hansen explained that "The tracking was a lot of fun and everyone had a good time."^[2] Tyler "Telle" Smith noted that "We wanted to step it up in every aspect of our songs compared to Empire. When we're heavy, it's heavier. When we do things big, they are huge! When we slow it down, it's something beautiful."^[3]

"Epiphany" was released as the album's first single where it was premiered online. The second single, "The Hounds of Anubis" premiered on the Revolver website.^[4] The album features a re-recording of the song "Battle Royale", originally featured as the opening track for Empire. The final track for Empire ("How to Build an Empire") is referenced in a line of lyrics found within the song "Consider It Mutual". Early copies of Deceiver have a typo on the backside of the included booklet which reads "Produced, engineered and by Andrew Wade".

A deluxe edition of Deceiver was released on June 7, 2011 and contains two previously unreleased tracks; "Apologician" and "Lights and Stones" along with the group's two cover songs; "Heartless" and "Over the Mountain". It also features remixes of the songs "The Hounds of Anubis", "The Wretched", and "2012", with "The Hounds of Anubis" being exclusively remixed by Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland along with an unreleased music video for "The Wretched" as well as the "2012" music video.^[5] For the connivence of fans that were already in-possession of the hardcopy release of Deceiver, the release of the deluxe edition was only made digitally over iTunes. All extras included on the deluxe edition are available individually.^[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	(69%)[7]
Allmusic	[8]
Alternative Press	[9]
SMN News	[1]

Deceiver received generally positive reviews by many. Allmusic explained that the album "covers a lot of familiar territory. Where the album gets interesting is in the guitar acrobatics of Tony Pizzuti and Zack Hansen, who like to keep things lightning fast and intricate" and "for anyone looking for metalcore with a couple of surprises here and there, Deceiver should offer a little something new."^[8] Alternative Press stated "the relentless drive of so many of the songs found on Deceiver have an urgency and added aggression to them that would make many of their peers recoil out of fear."^[9]

Nathan Lay of SMN News expressed that "this is one of those albums that actually becomes increasingly better as it plays through. It seems that most albums lose steam by the time they’re half way through, but not Deceiver." Lay also garnered a comparison of the album to their Empire EP by stating "Hell, the EP is still a worthy metal contender with today’s releases. So how [does] the full length compare? Well fans can stop holding their breath; Deceiver is beast. It’s heavier, more intricate, more powerful, and even more aggressive (lyrically and musically)."^[1] Negative reviews or comments of the album, although rare, mostly were made in disliking to the album's clean (melodic singing) vocals. Lambgoat referred to the singing as "Estrogen enhanced emo [vocals]" and gave it a negative review, although praised the band's talent and musicianship.^[10]

Deceiver reached position 97 on the Billboard 200, number 37 on Rock Albums, number 15 on Top Independent Albums, and number 14 on Hard Rock Albums.^[11]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Tyler Smith, except where noted, all music composed by The Word Alive, except where noted.

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"The Hounds of Anubis"	Zack Hansen, Tony Pizzuti	Zack Hansen, Tony Pizzuti	4:13
2.	"Epiphany"			4:03
3.	"The Wretched" (featuring Dave Stephens of We Came as Romans)		The Word Alive, Joshua Moore	4:06
4.	"Consider It Mutual"			5:02
5.	"2012" (featuring Levi Benton of Miss May I)		The Word Alive, Tom Denney	3:02
6.	"Dream Catcher"			3:25
7.	"Like Father Like Son"			4:44
8.	"Battle Royale"		The Word Alive, Tony Aguilera	3:58
9.	"You're All I See"			3:51
10.	"We Know Who You Are"			5:36
Total length:				41:48

Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
11.	"Lights and Stones"	Tyler Smith	Tyler Smith	4:04
12.	"Apologician"	Tyler Smith	Tyler Smith	3:50
13.	"The Wretched (KC Blitz Remix)"	Tyler Smith	The Word Alive, Joshua Moore, Jon Courtney	4:35
14.	"2012 (KC Blitz Remix)"	Tyler Smith	The Word Alive, Tom Denney, Jon Courtney	5:39
15.	"The Hounds of Anubis (Wes Borland Remix)"	Tyler Smith	The Word Alive, Wes Borland	4:03
16.	"Heartless" (Kanye West cover)	Kanye West	Kanye West, Ernest Wilson, Scott Mescudi, Malik Jones	4:01
17.	"Over the Mountain" (Ozzy Osbourne cover)	Ozzy Osbourne	Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake	4:20

Personnel

Musicians

The Word Alive Tony Pizzuti - rhythm guitar Justin Salinas - drums Zack Hansen - lead guitar, backing vocals Tyler "Telle" Smith - lead vocals Nick Urlacher - bass guitar Dusty Riach - keyboards, synthesizers

Additional musicians David Stephens - additional vocals on track 3 Levi Benton - additional vocals on track 5 Tom Denney - composer, writer Joshua Moore - composer, writer

Production

Audio production staff Andrew Wade - production, engineering Matt Martone - engineering Alan Douches - mastering

Representational staff Kyle Crawford - logo, title design Keith Koenig - art direction, layout Tim Harmon - photography Nate Matzelle - A&R

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Lay, Nathaniel (August 18, 2010). "The Word Alive - Deceiver". SMN News. http://www.smnnews.com/2010/08/18/the-word-alive-deceiver/. 
2. ^ http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=61982351&blogId=536539663
3. ^ http://www.lambgoat.com/news/view.aspx?id=14312
4. ^ http://www.revolvermag.com/music/detail/exclusive-the-word-alive-premiere-the-hounds-of-anubis/
5. ^ http://highwiredaze.com/twanews1
6. ^ The Word Alive 'Deceiver' Deluxe to Include Wes Borland Remix, Kay West & Ozzy Osbourne Covers SMN
7. ^ Solomon, Blake (18 November 2010). "Word Alive, The - Deceiver - Album review - AbsolutePunk.net". AbsolutePunk. http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=2023102. Retrieved 21 November 2010. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "Deceiver review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1940637. 
9. ^ ^{a b} "Deceiver review". Alternative Press. http://www.altpress.com/reviews/entry/the_word_alive_-_deceiver/. 
10. ^ The Word Alive - Deceiver // Lambgoat
11. ^ "Deceiver - The Word Alive | Billboard.com". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/album/the-word-alive/deceiver/1388537#/album/the-word-alive/deceiver/1388537. Retrieved 14 September 2010.