Marianas Trench could be considered nothing but an orchestral equation of talent. This talent swells from the vocals of lead singer Josh Ramsay, to the thrumming fingertips of lead guitarist Matt Webb, to the core-shaking rhythm found in bassist Mike Ayley, to the contained power of Ian Casselman on the drums. In fact, the talent of singing isn’t just limited to their lead singer, as every band member does background singing for many of the tracks, all of them harmonizing perfectly.
However, they didn’t always carry this mark of true, passionate musicians. It took them until their second album, ‘Masterpiece Theatre’ to reveal their true colours. And their true colours were dazzling.
A band from Vancouver, B.C., Marianas Trench appeared to the naked eye to be just another emo punk pop band. Their first album, ‘Fix Me’, released in 2006, had songs with mediocre lyrics describing what some would term ‘typical teen angst’, as well as some upbeat party songs that carried little or no significant content. Despite starting out as a response to the emo-core/dance music melding of bubblegum punk popular amongst teens, the band and their second album emerged as a mature recreation and true depiction of their artistic talent and skill.
Although lead singer Josh describes the album title ‘Masterpiece Theatre’ as more of an ironic terming and not an indication of egotistical perceptions, the image the title depicts is not far off considering the lyrical depth of the album. Songs like ‘Lover Dearest’, a letter written by Josh Ramsay to his heroin addiction, ‘Acadia’, an eerily accurate depiction of the bittersweet longing found in nostalgia, and ‘Masterpiece Theatre Pt. 3', an astounding medley of all the songs on the album, clearly indicate that this band has come a long way from singing about slapping wh***s in ‘Shake Tramp’.
The point of a talented band is to break free from the shell your genre encases you in, and it is clear that Marianas Trench has achieved this breaching of artistic limitations. After all, music in itself is meant to defy all boundaries. While other bands tend to accept their genre labels and make no attempts to move out of their determined niche, Marianas Trench rises above them all, not only due to superior talent, but superior daring. Like their new album, they truly are a masterpiece.