Jeromes Dream : "the Gray In Between"

 

These guys formed in 1997 making the legit old-school screamo. They have more in common with hardcore than how screamo is defined today. They took a 17-year break then put out a comeback album and this is now officially a thing again, as this marks their second release since reforming, and their first with the addition of Sean Leary from Loma Prieta on guitar. They have not lost any of the intensity. The feedback still screeches. They have a sound but are capable of writing songs. As with any form of extreme music sometimes the momentum of their sonic heaviness can carry them away as we begin to hear on the second song, which does not benefit from the kind of arrangement they compose on "South By Isolation" . The guitars create a dense wall of sound for the screaming vocals to throw themselves against.  

There is more dynamic nuance on "Pines on the Hill" . They are still pretty explosive , but the contrasting sound give the more feral section a space to launch themselves from. The vocals are emotive , but sound like an obligatory human element when you stop to ponder the story they are telling. At almost four minutes it gives them more time to explore rather than their more compact punk style of writing. There is a piano interlude after this song that I am not counting in terms of this review. "AAEEAA" works off a tightly syncopated riff. The arrangement works off a simple formula but proves to be effective. There is room for the song to breathe. The riff to "On Holiday With Infinity" stars off with a similar stomp, but then things get blasty. Not as interesting as the song before it.

The more spastic explosion that is "the Future of Memory" works off the kinetic energy it expels. The frantic chaos does have form and function. Not the best song on the album, but I can appreciate where they are going with it. "Often Oceans" is an instrumental, that while it utilizes cool guitar tones, never turns into anything, so feels more like an interlude. If some of those elements had been combined with what they do in the last song, both songs would have benefited from the experimentation. I get what they are going for on the last song, but think a little more dynamics would have been the way to go. I will give this a 9, as these guys know what they are doing, what they are doing could have resonated more with me in a few places, but I think they accomplished what they set out to do with every ounce of their souls invested in it. If you like screamo this is a must.