This band made the top 5 of our top 10 Post-punk albums of 2022, so I am going into this album with high expectations. This time, there seems to be a somewhat less aggressive, more introspective vibe, so much so that I had to go back and listen to the previous album to make sure it was the same band. The mix is different, though a similar reverb-tinged haze lingers over both albums. It is a cleaner mix this time around, even when the vocals lie further back in the mix on "Favorite Game" as they subtly flirt with a more goth sound at times. Which is why I don't mind the changes.
By the third song, I had to break it up and start giving the song a more careful listen to differentiate some moments. Some of this lies in the hazier fashion in which this album is recorded. There are some great guitar tones on this album. They obscure the vocala tad on a few songs; it's just a juggling act of compromises. Despite sounding like a different band, I like the more new wave vibes of "Flowers in Bloom". Which makes sense as that is where the actual bands from this era went, we were jsut discussing this on our podcast episode about Killing Joke. This sort of thing is not really riffy music like rock or metal. Yet the guitar parts are more defined for "Say Nothing." It does carry that more Killing Joke-like new wave edge post- "Night Time".
"Hand of Malice" has more punch to the bass line, almost recapturing the feel of the previous album, but the vocals are more shrouded in atmosphere and a more cautious croon. In this case, it creates a mood clsoer to the Smiths, so it's hard for me complain about it. "Fields of Woe" has a cool, melancholy sound, but not long enough of a sound to dynamically shift them. Their cover of Asylum Party's "Julia" works, but the vocals sit too far back in the mix. But it's cool to hear a more obscure cover like this. The last song has some cool 80s-sounding drums. There is a glum vibe to the song, not unlike early Cure. Though it's possessed by more layers of guitar to bury the vocals in. I will give this album a 9, as it really depends on how attached you were to the more punk side of the last album to embrace this one, but it's a logially step of growth for this band.
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