Smile Empty Soul is a post-grunge band formed in 1998 in Santa Clarita, California by Sean Danielsen (vocals and guitars), Ryan Martin (bass), and Derek Gledhill (drums). As one can guess from the name, they are well-known for writing about very heavy subject matter.
Discography:
Studio Albums:- Smile Empty Soul (2003)
- Anxiety (2005)
- Vultures (2006)
- Consciousness (2009)
- 3's (2012)
- Chemicals (2013)
- Oblivion (2018)
- Blackpilled (2021)
This band provides examples of:
- Alternative Metal: Their heavier songs dip into this style.
- Cue the Sun: "Morning Light."
- Empty Shell: Empty soul, actually.
- I Am the Band: Gledhill left in 2005 and Martin followed in 2017, leaving Danielsen as the sole remaining founding member.
- Indecipherable Lyrics: Frequently. Notable mentions are "Bottom of a Bottle", in which the lyric "I do it just to feel like I'm alive" sounds like "I do it just to feel like I'm ahhh ahh ahhhhahhh!", and "Therapy", in which the entire chorus is just...well, you try to figure out what he's saying.
- Nu Metal: Had elements of this on their self-titled debut.
- Post-Grunge: One of the more respected bands if this genre, with some mentioning them in the same breath as the "big five" (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden).
- Rock Trio: The band has employed this setup since its inception. The only exception is Vultures, which was recorded with a second guitarist.
- Romanticized Abuse: Implied in "Don't Ever Leave" between the singer and the person he's singing about.
- Self-Titled Album: Their first album.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Go ahead and try to find one positive thought in any of their songs. We'll wait.
- Stepford Smiler: Invoked with their actual name, no less.
- Taught by Television: The bridge of "Nowhere Kids" alludes to this as a form of Parental Neglect."And what did you expect
A perfect child
Raised by TV sets
Abandoned every mile." - War Is Hell: "This is War" and "God's Army" are both good examples.
