Album Review - Depth : Situations Fulfilled (2011)

Depth are a four-piece rock/post-hardcore band from Norwich who wear their influences on their sleeve on their full length album, ‘Situations Fulfilled’. They’ve had moderate success since their formation, including a live show streamed across the internet on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam website and a popular track on the Lava TV website. 

Unfortunately, this offering from Depth (which was also my first experience of the band) falls slightly flat and that’s possible due to the amount of tracks on the album. For an unsigned release, 12 tracks is a hell of a lot. It’s a huge mouthful for new listeners as it would be for industry professionals giving it the once over. Quality would have been better than quantity, as the size of the album makes each song quite forgettable. Nothing really stands out amongst the vast amount of bland tracks, making this album a painful experience at times.

Now, I will take nothing away from the band, they’re clearly good at what they do and I am sure that their success is warranted. I expect they have a loyal fan-base and put on a good live show. But ‘Situations Fulfilled’ just isn’t going to blow you out of the water.

Depth started out as a cover band, and this really isn’t surprising. They sound like a slightly less intense version of Funeral For A Friend, and that isn’t something that the world really needs right now. The songs are drenched in the sound of the Welsh band, and even some of the song titles are clearly influenced by the band’s most successful album, ‘Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation’, even going as far as using some words from FFAF song titles in their own. There is paying homage and just plain ripping off, and I think Depth stand somewhere in the middle.

Some songs are more enjoyable to listen to than others, but by the time the middle of the album comes around, I am well and truly bored. I just want to stop listening and that’s really not what music should be about. Much of the songs feel forced and sometimes have too many mediocre parts are flying around, making much of this album unremarkable in almost every way.

If the band can pull away from the sounds of bands that inspire them and make something of their own, I am sure they could record something that doesn’t feel like watered down, half-arsed alternative rock, but for now, ‘Situations Fulfilled’ is just that.