For an album so close to death, Hawthorne Heights’ Skeletons shows nothing but a new form of energy and life for the band.  The record begins with its strongest track, “Bring You Back”, which automatically gives a sense of what the remaining 40+ minutes will be like. JT Woodruff pulls you in with his stirring vocals as he sings for a love lost to an assumed suicide with the lines “I turn around // I turn around and you’re not there // I’ll do anything if it would bring you back “. 
  
The album starts strong and continues with the same confidence. “Nervous Breakdown”, the album’s first single, shows off the catchiness that pervades the choruses and melodies. “End Of The Underground” will instantly make you raise your eyebrows: For the first time since If Only You Were Lonely and the tragic death of Casey Calvert, unclean vocals from Micah Carli appear on the album, which will certainly be a pleasant and welcoming surprise to longtime fans. 
  
Unfortunately “Drive” and “Gravestones” bring down the energy the first three tracks gave to the album as the band tries to diversify themselves with an electronic starting beat for “Drive” and an acoustic track throughout on “Gravestones”. 
  
“Last Few Words” gets Skeletons back on track with Woodruff’s chilling vocals and a violin part that fits just right over the calming piano intro. “Picket Fences” and “Here I Am” are once again showcases for Hawthorne Heights’ attempted musical diversification, and even though they get closer to the correct formula, they haven’t quite yet gotten it. 
  
Skeletons closes just as strongly as it starts with “Unforgivable” and “Boy”.  “Unforgivable” is a culmination of what the Hawthorne Heights does best with hard hitting drums and cutting guitars as the eerie, but a calming bridge kicks in with the vocals, “And all we are are ticking clocks // keeping track of time that’s lost”.  “Boy” is the perfect closing song as Woodruff tells the story of a fatherless child over an ironically relaxing acoustic track for the verses. But don’t worry, the band kicks into electric mode for the choruses. 
  
Skeletons is an album of new beginnings for the band. Tracks like “Bring You Back” and “Unforgivable” will surely become favorites as tracks like “Gravestones” and “Picket Fences” peek interest about what the band will do next and if they can master diversifying their sound. 

***.5/*****