Modern Grotesque
by Dreamwell

From Mercury 03/26/2021 05:16 | #267772

(Astounding album. A complete triumph. I'm finding it hard to describe. This is "Screamo", "Post-Hardcore", "Emo" with elements of "Post-Rock", but done so exceptionally and thoroughly that those descriptors seem to fall short when I type them.)

Well, this is amazing. I had been trying to get through this album for days. But something about the circumstances of my life and the raw, unadulterated, unalloyed anguish and power of the first 5 minutes kept stopping me. Finally, I listened, and I listened all the way through. I was a bit stunned by the immensity of the album and all that happened musically in its 40 minutes. What started as barriers to entry became the most fundamental through lines. The vocals, when screaming, sound like the last desperate cries of a man who wants to express all his failings and feelings before his end. The vocals, when sung, sound like someone stripped of all pretense with nowhere to hide, forced to face the raging beasts head on.

The sonic array of the guitars is spectacular. They shimmer and evoke wide open fields and fleeting memories just as ably as they crash and roar and weep and crush the unfeeling world around them, and when they do its exhilarating.

Really the whole package is marvelous. Truly. The drummer is stellar, and his chemistry with the bassist, guitarists and singer is excellent. The production, while not an ear-catching element of the sound, is great - and perhaps that is why it is great, the production clearly captures the interplay of the musicians and does nothing else to muddy up the works. The lyrics are so anguished and dramatic that in most bands' or albums' hands they would swerve into the verge of ridiculousness. But here, they are so perfectly and honestly delivered and musically supported by just the right musical expression that the words rise to, at times, rarefied levels of bravery, honesty and beauty.

I love this album. It absolutely blindsided me. I did not expect to feel such respect and love for a Screamo album before I listened. But damn it, on the whole and taking a look at how this albums weaves and flows and builds and falls apart and screams and whispers, I think this album has modern classic written on it.