Nothing defines "guilty pleasure" for me quite like Alesana. They're the kind of band you can't actually admit liking to anyone but other Alesana fans, which makes me wonder why I ordered a t-shirt along with their new album. My tortured relationship with the band goes back to their debut LP, which I shamefully listened to over and over last year in the solitude of my room. I knew I was supposed to hate them for a plethora of reasons-the whiny singing, the monkey-like screaming, the fact that they managed to sound like a three-piece garage band with six members [three guitarists!]-but I just couldn't. They were too catchy! And there was solid songwriting behind their tortured screamo faade! So when I heard they'd tapped Steve Evetts (A Static Lullaby, Senses Fail, Every Time I Die) to produce their latest effort, I thought they might be able to polish their sound to the point where I could publicly come out as an Alesana fan and not face ridicule and scorn. Did they succeed?

Kind of.

There's definitely an extra coat of varnish on Where Myth Fades To Legend that On Frail Wings Of Vanity And Wax lacked (did I mention their ultra-pretentious titles?), and they prove that the solid songwriting on their first record was no fluke. Alesana's sound may be called cookie-cutter, but they blend screamo, metal, and pop together with enough variety to make every song distinct, a task many of their peers fail miserably at. At least with Alesana, I can tell what song I'm listening to right off the bat. Unfortunately, their formula has plenty of flaws as well: they still manage to sound like their third guitarist is off twiddling his thumbs somewhere for half the songs, and their vocalists often inspire heated debate on who is worse: the singer or the screamer? Shawn Mike's nasal delivery works for the most part, but when he gets off-key or stretches on the high notes, it can be a ghastly affair. Dennis Lee's screaming has gotten a little better, but it's still very much overused, and you can almost never make out what he's saying; if you didn't like it on the last album, chances are you won't like it on this one either.

As for the songs themselves, I don't think we need to analyze the full set. "This Is Usually The Part Where People Scream" opens the album with Alesana's triple guitar attack back in full force, only better; the awful, tinny tone from the last album has been wiped clean off the map, a production choice I thank Evetts for endlessly. The song structure is varied and interesting while usually dodging overindulgence, lush riffs and rapid fretwork backing Mike and Lee's sing-scream trade-off. It's also a good gauge for whether you'll like the rest of the album, because Alesana sticks to their guns for most of Where Myth Fades To Legend, avoiding monotony while delivering exactly what fans have come to expect from their sound. Lee's screaming feels slightly shoehorned into some songs, as if they gave him sections out of obligation, but that's just another part of their signature formula. The only time the album really falters is during the second-to-last track: "As You Wish" is a piano ballad that tries to transplant the Alesana formula to the ivory keys and only succeeds half the time. The uneasy chord shifts may work on guitar when backed by explosive drums and raspy screams, but when done with naked instrumentation, it just sounds awkward. Points for trying, but please stick to rocking, boys.

In the end, WMFTL is the functional equivalent of Alesana 1.5. The band expands on the sound they established in OFWOVAW, trying their hand at some excellent subdued intros and outros [such as the end of "Seduction" and beginning of album-highlight "Sweetheart, You Are Sadly Mistaken"], and even in the middle of songs as well. This variance saves the album from becoming an entirely straightforward affair, and even though a handful of the songs cover old ground, they remain melodic enough to hold interest. The album still isn't anything groundbreaking, admittedly, but it's yet another guilty pleasure that I'll be spinning for the foreseeable future. Plus there are enough stand-out tracks to make Alesana slightly easier to defend against the haters now.

But don't get me wrong; it's still an uphill battle.

Review by Dan Lifschitz