After a very successful first album, metalcore/post-hardcore band, I See Stars became one of the biggest names of the genre. Since the release, ISS has toured with bands such as Attack Attack!, A Skilit Drive, Dance Gavin Dance, In Fear & Faith and Asking Alexandria. As of Tuesday, the sextet released its very anticipated and long awaited second album called “The End of The World Party.”

ISS became popular because of its synth-heavy breakdowns, catchy choruses and great mix of both clean and heavy vocals. The first track of the album, the title track, reminds listeners of why ISS is great. A building synth lead fades into an awesome dubstep filled breakdown that sandwiches lead vocalist Devin Oliver’s auto-tuned clean vocals. This is by far the best song on this album. After I heard this song I remember thinking, “Wow this album is so much heavier than ‘3-D.'” Boy I was wrong…

The next song is called “Over It,” and it—get ready for this—sounds like Owl City meets old-school Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (yes, you read this right). This song, along with just about every other song on the album, sounds like a completely different band. After the first song was one of the heaviest I’ve ever heard from ISS, the rest of the album turns into a punk-pop genre that sounds like it could be in an American Pie movie. They even go so far as to incorporate a high school bell sound in one of their songs.

Now before you think I hate this album, let me say that I really don’t have a problem with this type of music. What gets me is that in the midst of these pop sounding songs, the band goes straight into breakdowns with no transition at all. A perfect example is the song “Wonderland.” I had to check several times if I was even listening to the same song.

In the end, I See Stars’ sophomore album, “End of The World Party,” earns a 3.5/5 because even though some songs were very good, the poor transitions brought it down. The songs to look our for are “The End of The World Party,” “Over It,” “Still Not Quite Enough” and “Common Hours II.” Overall the album was good, but I do not think it was as good as “3-D” as a whole. I’m not sure who we will be seeing ISS tour with in the future, but based on this album, I find it hard to believe they will share the stage with the same bands they have in the past.