However, as sappy as they can be lyrically Emery have always maintained a certain high-fueled energy in their music and it is this that separates them from the rest of the cattle stock in the music industry. Anyone who has witnessed their live act know that this spastic and energetic mindset translates into their performance; Emery can definitely put on one hell of a show.

Having said that, Emery's release of I'm Only a Man (Tooth and Nail Records) on October 2nd delivers a healthy dose of these elements and more while further delving down the paths of The Weak's End and The Question, condensing those efforts into a single, tighter, and more disciplined sonic package. The result is an album that finds Emery growing as a band through means of minimization.

Gone are the cacophony of Toby Morrell's screams that were the signature of both their prior releases. Instead, his sandpaper pipes are held to a minimum and for this the album is boosted to melodic heights that are only rivaled by the beauty of “Ponytail Parades” from The Weak's End; quite possibly their most eloquently orchestrated song to date. The vocal havoc that does appear is sometimes shared with Devin Shelton, most notably evident on the album's opening track, “Rock-N-Rule”. The song name says more than I could describe in this article, so I'll just leave it at that.

The first song to appear on the Internet from I'm Only a Man was “The Party Song” as part of the album's promotion on the popular social networking site MySpace. A cynical commentary set to rather poppy guitars, the song deals with society's inability to draw the line between life and recreation. While the lyrics don't necessarily say as much, the implication of this take on humanity brims beneath the track's glossy and superficial surface nevertheless.

Another part of the minimization effort for Emery is the scaling back of Josh Head's synthesizers. His touch is lent to a certain extent on “The Party Song” and the stellar “World Away” which is perhaps the epitome of the entire album. The soft washes Head contributes to the track complements the song in ways that may not be completely appreciated. He inconspicuously blends into the rest of the band to provide “World Away” with a sense of ethereal euphoria.

The feeling of placation is to be short-lived as “World Away” gives way to more sober pieces that round out I'm Only a Man. Tracks such as “Can't Stop the Killer”, “What Makes a Man a Man”, and the album's closing track “Crib to Coffin” perform such as the last few tracks on any album in existence ever should: maintain the audience's attention while effectively signifying the end is inevitable and nigh.

One last parting thought on this record is the idea that Emery's work since The Question has seen the band gel as a solid and thriving force in the modern rock scene. As more and more bands try to leave behind the concept of the post-hardcore scene, there are few that have managed to do so in such a fashion as Emery. I'm Only a Man is just one more testament to the fact that they are a band capable of greater things beyond their genre.