This has been sitting around as a draft for some time so in tying last years loose ends I decided I had better finish it. I am always scouring the inner webs for that perfect band . I know they are out there. They are dark and heavy. They combine elements of all my favorite music, Industrial , goth, post-punk, shoe gaze, doom, and black metal. I was lead to believer that Hateful Abandon was that band. The duo of Vice Martyr and Swine occupy a similar realm as bands like Pinkish Black and Wreck& Reference. Vocally, the harshness never reaches beyond pissed industrial. Some times taking on a slight croon to the Ian Curtis like monotone baritone narrative. They are supposed to be a really politically minded band but nothing stuck out to me which is just as well since I steer away from politics, since they are about as real as professional wrestling.
By the middle of the album you begin to realize what you see is what you get from a compositional stand point, the just gradually add layers in varied levels of subtlety. Though this trend is broken on the last song as "Winter" defrosts from the icy "Running Up that Hill" beat to a womb like pulse of synths. This is a little anti-climatic as is just kinda fades out in a wash. Where are the black metal elements I kept hearing this band possessed , was one question that went unanswered. So in accepting them for what they are, there are elements I like, however I need a few more surprises. Some of the edm and darkwave elements buy them enough time to provide a pay off in this direction, but it never comes into fruition.
This album didn't last to long in my iPod. On the first few listens , it worked for me and even now as I re-listen to this album as I write this I don't mind it, but it is not as gripping as I want it to be. I don't want to be satisfied with pleasant background noise, I want something to fucking rock me. I'll round this down to a 8.5 . They capture cool sounds the songs are dynamically flat due to the limitation of their drum machines.
6.5
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