Call Upon The Author

It opens, atmospheric, tense, eerie. It promises something great, something perhaps deranged, something that could be sheer unadulterated rock, something glorious. The guitars are introduced, then the drums. A monstrously delightful mix. The vocalist, Steve Ayres begins to sing- soothing. Illusion shattered. The promise has been broken.
The perfect opening has been ruined.
The dramatic rock of The prayer of an Ancestor has been shadowed by the mellow vocals, the voice doesn’t match the music and it throws the opening track of Operation Error’s debut A Sign of Faith (released on May 10) off kilter.
However, despite the slightly uneven but otherwise alright first song, Operation Error swiftly correct their mistake and swing themselves back onto course with I Am David. The vocals don’t seem as out of place, it has more of an edge. The song is fast paced and ferocious. It’s one of those songs where the louder it is the better it is. And by god is it good! These days it’s not often you get a decent rock song, so it’s refreshing when one is uncovered quite by accident.
The rest of the album pretty much goes by in a blur, an hour long blur. While the songs are good they aren’t outstanding, while they might be an improvement on the first track they aren’t as good as I am David, and it becomes a concern. A concern which is roughly brushed aside for the last track Your Faith, My Struggle.
It’s entirely different, it stands out, it’s a favourite. The gentle guitar at the start, the soft vocals, the thoughtful lyrics, they all set exactly the opposite scene than what can be found at the start of the album. It’s tinged with regret and hopelessness, but that doesn’t take away from the beauty of it. The band have adapted perfectly from fast-paced rock to accommodate this track. Finally, after what seemed like an age of waiting, a song that is just as good as I Am David appears, giving the album a satisfactory ending.
Of course, others stood out, not as blindingly obvious as the two previously mentioned, but they were still there. An Unlikely Exit demonstrated that they were capable of something heavier, and the rest served to reinforce what was already obvious; that they were good rockers.
All in all it is an average album, it would be a lie to say tha after the anticipation and excitement of the first minute and a half of the opening track that it wasn’t a bit disappointing, but it picked up and kept a steady quality