My Ticket Home - 'unReal' (Album Review)

My Ticket Home has been a band I've been wanting to hear an album from for a while. I've waited to see what this band was going to do after similar sounding bands Islander, Issues, and DangerKids all released albums in the last couple years all with varying degrees of success. I was really interested to hear how this band would follow-up 'Strangers Only'. That was the album that kind of had them riding the 'nu-metal revival' wave that started a few years ago. I went into 'unReal' hoping the band could improve on their sound and deliver a good follow-up to their last album.

My Ticket Home's last album combined a lot of nu metal elements with metalcore, which is something we've heard a lot from bands in that scene over the last two or three years. It was heavy, sludgy, and I liked it pretty well. With 'unReal' the band has found its footing in all the best ways. The album has some of the heaviness that was found on 'Strangers Only'. There are screams and heavy guitars. The album features some really nice drumming. It has elements of metalcore and nu-metal. Those things are all part of the My Ticket Home formula, but where 'unReal' succeeds more than its predecessor is in the much improved songwriting and style exploration. The album feels and sounds very much like it leans on the sounds of the mid-late 90s and early 2000s. There's more 90s alternative rock influences and more grunge influences. I hear stylistic influences on this album that remind me more of an album like Deftones 'The White Pony'. At times the vocals have some tinges that remind me of Alice In Chains. You can definitely hear some of these influences and sounds in a song like "Joi". "Flee The Flesh" has some slightly heavier elements while still maintaining this more melodic approach. The melodic guitar work on "Down Life" is really cool. I think the varied sonic influences and the move from more of that metalcore sound is part of the big reason this album just sounds fresher and the songs come out stronger. The band took some chances here and I think it paid off nicely. This album helps move them away from a sound that is starting to become a little stale and shows off their abilities nicely.

I can't deny it; 'unReal', for me, is My Ticket Home's best album. On first listen more songs stuck out to me and I instantly liked the vibe. I think they met, and probably exceeded, my expectations and delivered an album that has more than a handful of really good songs. It's a nicely balanced album with a nice mix of melodic and heavy vibes. It definitely leans more on alternative rock over metalcore and I like the approach a lot. I think it's successful and a very enjoyable album. Check this one out; it's really good.