I | Am | The | Door - Reviews

Bristol quartet I|AM|THE|DOOR's have harnessed a rich sound full of layers and considered songwriting, and in efforts like 'Shine Through' play like gloriously demented bastards while simultaneously supplying a right ol' anthemic chorus. Frontman Justin has quite some pipes too. A good British band worth investigating. Rocksound magazine 7/10 


'I|AM|THE|DOOR' have clearly produced an album in 'Frequency' that lifts ideas from some great bands out there. One of the most striking things about this record is Justin Percival's piercing vocals. Percival manages to dance beautifully between emotionally charged choruses and grating screams. His talents are best displayed on songs 'Shine Through' and 'Something Beautiful'. 'Frequency' isn't an album that relies on catchy vocal melodies or repetitive guitar riffs to keep you interested though. A lot of thought has clearly been put into the song structures on this album, and this clearly shows through the use of schizophrenic drum loops and bass licks. Take a listen to 'Does it mean something', and you'll realise these weren't songs written for the sake of getting on the radio. 'Frequency' is a very solid collection of songs and definitely a breath of fresh air when compared to 90% of the other albums out there. 'I am the Door' are clearly a talented bunch of lads, and 'Frequency' deserves to propel them to greater things. 4/5
www.punktastic.com/reviews/


'It’s fantastic then when the first track here slides into view like it might be the bastard child of Muse and a howling jet engine. Far from pompous stadium stuff, the next fourty minutes sound more like Circa Survive, Thursday or any of the newer breed of forward thinking emotional bands. U2 would need humility implants, a week at rock’n’roll band camp and a swift kick up the arse to sound this good. So there’s a sparkling progressive quality to the material here but on first listen none of it sounds like it could ever appeal to the casual radio rock fan, at least not like the behemoths above ever have. Just check the dizzying musical layers and myriad of emotions running through the plus five-minutes of ‘You Are’, the dramatic submarine noises of ‘Tomorrow Belongs to Us’ and is that a flock of seagulls squawking over the beginning of ‘Why We Disappeared’? But, again, dig just a little deeper and there are swirling vocals that could swallow arenas whole, FM-friendly riffs and even a hint of the epic to closer ‘Make Yourself Strong’ which might mean that U2 influence came in handy after all. This is a band in its infancy but one with masses of promise. They currently lack truly memorable tunes, but I Am The Door tout a sound that has room enough to grow into the best British thing for years. 
www.new-noise.net/album-reviews/i-am-the-door/


Early highlights come with 'Shine Through' and 'Does it Mean Something', both of which have something of a chorus and are more rousing than the opening tracks. There is good musicianship on display throughout and by the fifth track I'm starting to wish they'd do a slower song just to see how they'd handle it but so far the opportunity hasn't arisen as they keep up the tempo and the underlying feel of repressed energy. 'You Are' hints at being a slower song, albeit only in the verse, but it still has that feeling of angst and doesn't really come close to ballad status. This title is taken by the following track 'Something Beautiful', well alright it's no ballad but it's as close to a slow song as we're going to get but it's something of a disappointment as it doesn't explore the depths that you feel they could. The album finishes with 'Make Yourself Strong', which returns to the now familiar upbeat formula but it lacks some of the appeal of earlier tracks. If you really had to compare them to anyone they are probably closest in energy and style to White Rose Movement but with better tunes and without the heavy 80's overtones. When all is said and done they are as good as anything else around at the moment and probably have a lot more vim and vigour than many; they certainly don't come across as shoe gazers! 9/13 
www.roomthirteen.com


The first track on the album, “Why We Disappeared”, starts off with a very retro late 60’s style guitar riff that is very Floyd-ish in its composure, but the track then heads off down a Punky road before leading into a really rocky sounding chorus. On first listen I thought this a little strange, but strange as it sounds, it works. The band members obviously have slightly different musical tastes and instead of that fact driving a wedge between them they have managed to bring them all together and have created a unique blend of the main elements from punk, jazz, dance, metal, rock, prog and pop. Harry Bellairs' guitars provide the varnish for the musical picture painted by George Laycock's bass and keyboards and the complex drumming from the hands of Alex Percival. I will admit to being unsure of the vocals of Justin when I first heard him sing, but on reflection he probably has the perfect type of voice for this release, his sometimes breathy, slightly screechy style of singing may not be to everyone’s taste, but it blends in perfectly with the sounds this group are trying to create. “I Am The Door” are not afraid to try new styles with their song writing and are one of the new breed of groups out there that are refusing to be pigeon holed into some of the ever increasing mediocre genres that are floating around nowadays. They stick their index finger up at corporate expectations almost as if they are saying “this is what we want to do, like it or lump it”. They are progressing music onward and upward and could easily be the one of the faces of the future. This is an album that has managed to encompass everything from ballads to punk anthems and interspersed them with prog and rockier undertones and highlights, which a lot of the new groups seem to be doing nowadays, but I must say that I think “I Am The Door” are probably one of the better exponents of this new sound that I have heard, and I would recommend this album to anyone who wanted to know the way ahead in modern music. 8.5/10 
www.hardrockhouse.com/NewReleases/IAmTheDoor


Taking a breezy and melodic approach to the generic alternative rock moves of the past ten years, Bristol act I Am The Door craft nine tracks of fluid, tuneful rock music on their nine track debut Frequency. Frequency is a balance of fiery yet, relaxed muscular playing; any real aggression is balanced by tight arrangements and clean melodies, bolstered by the dependable vocals of singer Justin Percival. Overall it is a balance of traditional rockers and ballads, set in a sort of Stereophonics cum Brit rock mode yet with enough Incubus eclectic bite underpinning the songs to lift their band's repertoire above stodgy trad riff rock, the kind of shit like Reef that sticks in your throat like dry Weetabix. Instead, I Am The Door have enough British sound in their make-up to balance out any over-earnest emo-isms. Whatever the fuck an emo-ism is. Frequency is a worthwhile debut base to leap onwards and upwards from.
www.altnation.com/punk-related-articles/i-am-door-frequency