Doppelganger by The Fall of Troy

Doppelganger by The Fall of Troy Review
posted by Peace

This album is literally jazz but post-hardcore. Musicians beware the tabs at the end of this post.

The first song i heard from this album was F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. the 22nd of October last year (2022). It was a pretty Chiodos day, and soon after seeing MCR live a few days prior, I was open to listening to some new music. a few days later it was stuck in my head, so i listened to it again as well as Act One, Scene One. In November I discovered Mouths Like Sidewinder Missiles, and I decided to check what the genre was and thus began my exploration of post-hardcore.

The organization of this album and its songs really blows me away. The screams are extremely satisfying, the tempo changes within songs keep my attention, the solos are incredible, and I feel as if each instrument gets a solo of sorts. It really reminds me of playing in jazz band, and how fun it is to play in that way.

The tracks don't feel way too fast, or too slow, and I appreciate the improvement from the older versions of a lot of the tracks. This album was basically made twice, first as fall of troy and then again in this release, and I'm so glad that decision was made, because as the musicians improved, the songs took on a new shape and got better.

four of the songs were re-recorded versions of tracks from the self-titled album, hence the name Doppelgänger. - last.fm user Bulgey10, 29 August 2008, 3:57am

I also like the order of the tracks because they fit perfectly in the order they’re in.

This is an album that needs to be listened at a decently high volume, because the mixing is really cool, and there’s some sounds in there that I missed in my daily listening with just one headphone in. I like the rawness, makes the album sound like a demo, and I love the sound of demos. From the progressive post-hardcore albums I’ve listened to, this album maintains the most hardcore vocal elements. The instruments in this album in general are just out of this world, and they really have their own time to shine, the focus isn’t on the vocals every minute of the song, but the instrumentalists get their time in plenty, and I’m really here for it.

I really appreciate the bass. I feel as if the bass in this album acts a lot more like a percussion instrument at some points, like it's part of the rhythm section in jazz, not constantly following the guitar like bass in rock music tends to do. I just wish it was more prominent in the mixing, even though I love that sweet demo sound. I also love the drums because I don’t know how any of those beats are possible, but that’s just an attitude I have with progressive post-hardcore, jazz, and drums in general. These odd time signatures and shuffle beats and so on and so forth… I tried a drum set for the first time in a while the other day and I can’t even keep time in 4/4.

The track names are also fun, and honestly, I feel as if I’d name tracks like this. I love inside jokes and “personal lore”, and I’m pretty sure a lot of these track names have to do with that.

I think Mouths Like Sidewinder Missiles had the biggest glow up (even though I still love the version on their self-titled album), with that solo at 2:38 that makes me feel like I'm ascending. (It reminds me of the Venona solo from Between the Heart and the Synapse.)

I’ve definitely appreciated all these elements more listening to them on the CD than it on streaming, especially the ending of Track 6 “The Hol[]ly Tape…”which is really calm in contrast to the greater part of the song’s chaos.

If you like jazz that's fun, I think you'll like this. I still hear new things in this album every time I listen to it. I still find listening to the full album somewhat overwhelming since it’s so chaotic, so I like the songs on shuffle daily, and if I'm in the mood to feel like I’m cool while completing a mundane or slow task, I'll listen to it all the way through. (Prefect album for sewing in my opinion.)

Stole my best friend’s hand to get a pic on the way to the Bay Area :)

In case you can’t tell, I like this album cover a lot. I don’t know why I like this art style so much, but I can’t get enough pictures of the album cover. My most travelled CD.

booklet is a fold out

If I ever get the opportunity to see them live, I’d probably act much like I did seeing ERRA live and being right in front of Jesse Cash. I stood there in awe and overwhelm. There isn’t a lot of transcription to sheet music in post-hardcore/metalcore like is for jazz, or classical, or most genres in general, so seeing it live is like glancing at the sheet music for me, because before I try playing something I like to check out how difficult it is, and my goodness… these musicians are so talented and skilled and I can’t imagine the years of practice to get to the levels they’ve reached. I haven’t even looked at a fall of troy tablature because I’m scared (and also probably not a lot of people have figured out the tabs, I don’t know, I think I’ll go check right now.)

uh.

um.

that’s a good 30 time signature changes in one song, and I’m not sure if I counted wrong, but I saw at like 13 different time signatures (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 3/8, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, 9/8, 7/16, 9/16, 15/16, 17/16) 12 different time signatures. Also, a lot of dotted notes and syncopations and bends within all that and short rests and oh my gosh, are those 32nd notes??? This is why I got into progressive post-hardcore because as a musician who struggles with rhythm… what the heck. I was right to be scared.

Anyways, thanks for reading as always, and sorry for the uh… the tabs. Is it too late to put a jumpscare warning for musicians?

This piece can from Peace’s substack Post-Hardcore Post