With their energetic pop harmonies, hard beats and fun lyrics, Mest has created a solid sound over the past ten years.
After Mest released their first album "Mo' Money Mo' 40'z" in early 1998, they signed with Maverick and released "Wasting Time," "Destination Unknown" and their self-titled album in 2003.
Their latest album, "Photographs," continues their musical legacy and widens their expanding fan base.
A somewhat mellower album, "Photographs" still has the same raw, heart-driven punk rock sound of years past. As always, Mest's lyrics are down-to-earth and focus on real-life concerns.
Unlike previous songs such as "Dillio" and "Cadalliac," the songs on "Photographs" have depth and meaning.
"We watch this blackness eat away the cold blue sky/ Terrified, this is our last goodbye/ The dead will walk the streets tonight/ In my nightmare we never last this night," sings frontman Tony Lovato in "Graveyard."
Not as pop-punkish as previous albums, this new release shows a dark and emotional side of Mest. Like their self-titled album, "Photographs" displays how Mest has matured.
"Photographs" includes a DVD titled "Mest: Seven Deadly Sins," a collection of tour footage that helps bring fans closer to the band. The recording is rather rough and features a scene in which a band member takes a crap on someone's car.
They should be excused for their childish behavior because they are just boys living their dream on the road.
Disregarding any vulgar parts of the footage, the DVD is a perfect way for the band to keep loyal fans and bring in new ones by allowing the masses to see that they're real, regular people.
"Photographs" speaks to the more depressed and suffering fans with a much more mature and melodious sound. Packed with song titles such as, "Cursed," "Graveyard" and "Can't Take This," the band has really taken adolescent suffering to a new level.
No matter what the mood, Mest's "Photographs" is still the same great band with amazing lyrics and a genuine talent for crafting songs. For those loyal fans, this is another great Mest album to add to the collection.
