As much as I love Jonah Mantranga, I lost track of his work after Far. I need to catch up and I will start with this album. He formed this band with the drummer from Will Haven. They are very Deftones-like with lighter vocals moaning over the lower grooves lurking around them. I had to go back and give this album another listen to fully soak it in as my first pass-through was clouded by my expectations of what I wanted from Jonah based on Far. On this second listen I found he does really deliver on the first song. However, "Ease" feels like he is uncertain if he should commit to what he normally does when playing music with a lower-tuned harder-driving guitar.
"Pull" feels like it's more of a middle ground between the two options he was sorting through while plotting out the vocals for the second song. He gets even more comfortable on "The Ways We Were". It is interesting hearing this dynamic, as he is one of the best rock singers to come from this era, so to hear him on a footing that is not as sure of itself, creates a more vulnerable performance. I appreciate the more balladic drone of "Tetanus Blades", but there are plenty of shoe gaze bands that execute it better. "Doomed" finds him closer to the mic, and able to weave a more effective melody with his voice. finds
"Weakening Pulse" finds the heft of the guitar complimenting his vocals. One of the album's first distinctive rock riffs if on "Final Voyage' which gives him more to work with. The album closes with "Unspeakable Melody' which finds another big guitar riff chugging along, though, Jonah is not locked in with it in the same manner as the previous song. I will give this album a 9, making it better than most hard rock albums with such a compelling emotional side, but still falls short of what he did with Far. Exile on Mainstream drops this album for them March 28th . s
pst93
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