Midway into the year, and catching up with some albums I missed out on earlier. It goes to show that with mainstream metal media, even a broken clock is right twice a day, as I stumbled across these guys thanks to a Loudwire article. Produced like a shoegaze album, but it has Myspace emo vibes at its beating heart. This is most evident in the vocals. The vocals are almost pop-punk on "Soft Glow". A more nu-metal vocal pops up to give it a little more edge. Cameron Humpry is the creative engine of this project, and he seems to have a knack for blending all the right elements at the right time.
There is a more 90s alt-pop feel to "Take One Minute" that puts them in line to start gunning for the throne Turnstile is occupying this year. They are about as much of a metal band as Turnstile is a hardcore band. 'But the kinda sound like Deftones! " you argue. Well, Deftones have not been a metal band in some time. These guys are aware of Deafheaven, but not as committed to heaviness as they are. Which is fine, it's the media that is trying to position these guys as metal, not me. Then, as I type this, they make a more nu-metal stab at things for "Jawbreaker". It's much more Deftones influenced for sure.
"Evelyn" sounds more like a Jane's Addiction ballad if Dave Grohl were singing rather than Perry. It works better than that sounds. I guess this would be best described as nu-gaze, as it's shoe-gazing nu-metal, which is kind of what Deftones turned into. These guys groove differently. At times, on a song like "It Hurts to Know You're There," they bring Dredg to mind. The title track is the song to play if you are asked to sum up this band in one song. "Sunshine" really doubles down on the more pop-oriented aspect of what was a more subtle undercurrent til this point.
There is a more dream pop strum leading into "Anemoia". The song wanders in atmosphere. "Mist" kind of works off the mellower, more atmospheric vibes established in the previous song, with the songwriting feeling a little more dialed in, slightly more 90s Brit pop. I like the vocal production on the last song, though they do double down on the power ballad mood. They jam off the atmosphere, and allow it to boil to more of a climax. overall this might not be metal, but this album is a great deal of fun, sounds great and they have a fine ear for songwriting with memorable vocal lines which most shoe-gaze bands just use as a texture. I will give it a 9.5, out on Century Media.
10.7
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