Play The Victim – The Word Alive (Song Review)

“Play The Victim” is the first single off of Real; the third studio album from Arizona metalcore outfit The Word Alive. Real is set for release June 10th in the US and June 9th in the UK and will be released through Fearless Records. In an interview with frontman Tyler “Telle” Smith, it was revealed that this album would consist of some of their heaviest songs to date, as well as tracks with all singing vocals. Originally the band wanted a spring release, however it was pushed back to June due to the fact they wanted some of their friends (it wasn’t disclosed who) to contribute to the album. The lyrics and message seem to be pretty straight forward, because, come on, all of us knows that one person that is always playing the victim, milking whatever happens to them for all they can to get some pity out of people, especially when someone hurts they one they love, and then turns around and make themselves look like they were the ones who were hurt. “Knowing your tears are make believe, snowflakes in the summer it just doesn’t add up!” ; “Why do we hurt the ones we love, when will it end?” Also, it could be looked at from the perspective “so many people use the ‘self harm’ card to gain attention from band members and say that ‘your band saved my life’. It’s sad that people think they have to do this to gain attention these days” (YouTube user James Fancourt) which is a thought provoking statement. (Please note this is NOT us saying everyone who says that is faking, but it takes one person to ruin it for everyone else). It’s a change from their last album Life Cycles as they’ve lost Dusty Riach their former keyboard player, and as other fans are putting it, seems to be an extension of their first album Deceiver. Again, this is only the first single out of what we can assume to be two or three, so some might be jumping to that conclusion a little early. However, generally it seems to be received well by the fan base

Rating: 3.75/5– I know, now I’m just getting ridiculous, it would be a 4 from me, however the loss of Riach and in turn loss of keys and synth kicked it down just a smidge. What can I say I really enjoyed his work on Life Cycles. Anyway, that aside this song is great with a message I feel isn’t portrayed often; usually we hear songs about the speaker being victimized, not them speaking out about someone who pulls wool over people’s eyes to make them feel sorry for them. An interesting angle on something many of us deal with daily. I look forward to hearing other singles to see how they compare and I also look forward to seeing them (hopefully) perform this song live at Warped Tour this year! You can download “Play the Victim” in iTunes now.