1. Royalty
2. Bruma
3. Sifter
4. Red Tide
5. Abendrot
6. Lantern
7. Sitting By The Wayside
8. Paper Bridge
9. Catholic School Girls Are For Heroes (Burning The Bed - Remix)

Adrian Martinez (vocals) Tom Beagles (guitar) Dax Nelson (guitar) Asa Palmer (bass) Joel Suarez (drums)

The release of an EP, their first full-length album, and now “Arrivals/Departures”, make 2003 a year that SCHOOL FOR HEROES and their fans will not forget so easily. But let’s start from the beginning of this prolific year. The release of the EP, simply called “School For Heroes”, besides a lot of gigs played, made them earn a reputation as one of the best Florida alternative bands and got them to sign with the label “Tribunal Records” (SWIFT, AMAZING DEVICE); at the end of July came out “Listen”, the first SCHOOL FOR HEROES full-length album, produced by SWIFT drummer Jamie King. The band decided to include only two songs of the EP (“Japanese honor” and “The Patron”) in the new album, in order to make their fans enjoy a lot of new stuff, and this choice had been without any doubt good, cause all the new songs of “Listen” are great as the old ones in the EP are. Finally now, with the release of “Arrivals/Departures”, SCHOOL FOR HEROES make their oldest songs available to all their new fans. As a matter of  fact, “Arrivals/Departure” isn’t a new album, but a collection of old songs re-recorded (“Sifter”, “Red tide”, “Abendrot”, “Lantern”, “Sitting by the Wayside” and “Paper Bridge”), two new ones (“Royalty” and “Bruma”), written immediately after the release of “Listen”, and a remix of “Burning the Bed”, called “Catholic school Girls are for Heroes”. The title stays for where the band is arrived since now, and from where will leave in the future. 

The album starts off with “Royalty”, a tough song with a punk style chorus, maybe one of the most aggressive SCHOOL FOR HEROES song ever. The next one “Bruma” is a classical  SCHOOL FOR HEROES song: edgy but melodic, with an amazing chorus and a powerful riff that contrasts with the sweet voice of Adrian (who never screams in this song, unlike that in “Royalty”); besides this song is embellished by a string arrangement: it’s the very first time that SCHOOL FOR HEROES use this kind of instrument, but if these are the results, it surely won’t be the last one. Track number 3 isn’t a real song, but an interlude between the new songs and the old ones. It’s then the time of “Sifter”, a melancholic song with another wonderful chorus and an awesome bridge in the middle. The next two songs, “Red tide” and “Abendrot” are still good, but not the best in the album. 

Then, with the next three tracks, comes the best part of “Arrivals/Departures”; “Lantern” is a deep and sad song from its first note to the last one, and Adrian's performance is simply unbelievable: his vocals on the last part of the song are worth the price of the whole album. “Sitting by the Wayside” is another great track, with a particular riff and bass line on the verses, that explode on the chorus. The last song taken from the EP is “Paper Bridge”, a real masterpiece, with Adrian that alternates melodic/sad with screaming vocals; unlike most of their tracks, this one is without any chorus. The album ends with the remix of “Burning the Bed”, nothing more than a funny experiment. What more can i say? It’s so easy to understand that theese guy aren’t in the scene for the money, as many others bands nowdays are, but cause their music and their lyrics come straight from their hearts; so, all of their songs are at the some time deep and catchy, passionate and angry, melancholic and strong. This album shows that SCHOOL FOR HEROES past has been great, and the future.................well, i can’t wait to listen to their next album!!!

Rating: 9.5/10

 

Alberto Scremin