Love in the Time of Cholera "The Sun Through Glass" CD
[self-released]
Wow, I had never heard of this band before, but I bet I'll be hearing more about them in the next couple of years. They play a contemporary brand of emo-ish metalcore, and there is room for improvement in certain areas, but for the most part I'm liking what I hear with this one. Hell, even the little intro is effective, and slides right into a really energetic riff that sets the tone for the stronger aspects of the songwriting. For the most part it's a blend of melodic riffing with varying degrees of metallic undercurrents against chunkier chord progressions and little hints of dissonance, while the vocals shift rather efficiently from midrange screams to higher/lower snarling/growling and plenty of singing, not to mention some hardcore styled gang vocals and everything. And yeah, there are a couple of melodic Swedish riffs present as well, but they actually fall in line pretty nicely against everything else that's going on, and most such riffs are of a decent quality as well, so for once I don't particularly have a problem with that. Some of the tremolo picking sounds a little ragged at the edges, and in general that kind of playing as well as the pronounced dual guitar melodies could use some tightening up, but most of the performances are fairly on point. You could almost argue that they're diverse to the point of being a little disjointed in the writing department, but that's not a real problem here, as they actually blend their influences well and transition nicely between stylistic shifts. Furthermore, while this particular approach might be somewhat commonplace at this point in time, I have to commend these kids for being a little more creative with their song structures as well as their general riffs, many of which are actually quite powerful and energetic, if not curiously structured. Seriously, that first riff in "Enough Friction to Start a Fire" is a fuckin' scorcher, hinting at a metallic pop-punk sound that's unlike anything else on the disc but really grabs hold right away. Great fuckin' decision there, truly. "Taking Life" is one of the more frantic tracks in its constantly shifting dynamics and musical influences, and just check out the similarly seamless jumps from chunky distorted rhythms layered with clean guitars to discordant chords and explosive bursts of metallic hardcore in "Companions & Wellwishers"; while other longer tracks like "I'm Not Cuban & You're No Redhead" might spice things up with noisy electronic atmospheres and distant, distorted vocals. "Repression as Art" is the longest track at nearly eight minutes and actually allows the singing vocals to play a larger role in the middle of the track, which is a welcome shift for me by the middle of the record since they mix up their influences pretty evenly rather than focusing on any one area. But at the same time, this piece flies through everything from post-hardcore and hints of technical death metalcore to chugging breaks and borderline catchy melodic chords, so... even though the song certainly doesn't need to be as long as it is, they pull it off surprisingly well. Even though "Hell & Highwater" has some of the most openly Swedish sounding material right off the bat, notice how the riffs are put together just a little differently from the norm and how much of a distinction that makes. Shit, it's actually a little more memorable and easy to grasp, but not without fucked up little fits of panning or subtly complicated dual guitar interaction. There's also the instrumental title track with its slow, dry clean chords and distant, reverberated guitar noise; and "Consumed", which ends the disc with some strangely sparse sounding clean guitars over far away synths. The production's pretty good as well. As mentioned, that ragged edge to bits and pieces of the guitar playing could possibly be improved upon with a slightly more fluid distortion tone, but for the most part I think everything sounds really crisp and professional on this outing. The bass gets lost in the mix and sometimes there's a bit of separation in there, but the percussion sounds alright, the vocals are okay, and I actually think the guitars sound very good during the heavier rhythms and most of the general melodic riffing. It's only the tremolo picking and some of the harsher discordant areas that might need a little more thought in terms of textures employed, and I guess the few clean passages strewn throughout the disc might benefit from more of a lush disposition to add contrast to the metallic influences. But they've absolutely done a great job for themselves considering this is a self-released affair, and it totally stands up against most of what I get from bigger indie labels. Hell, it sounds a little better than a lot of that stuff, too! The packaging looks nice and maintains a clean and consistent appearance. I'm not sure the visuals apply to the music all that well, but whatever. Lyrically things are sort of typical in their artsy takes on personal trauma and whatnot, but the wording is definitely more interesting than what you'll find in most cases, which again gives them an edge: "It could be that everything is changing. I feel it in the way we move, so... disparately, as two lovers joined at the hips, in the maladapted hours - when the lights dim. Our egos ill-equipped to handle such close proximity..." Quite honestly I'm really surprised that these guys aren't signed yet, because I've heard plenty of bands of this nature that have less songwriting talent coming from a number of different labels, and there's definitely a lot more potential to be found here. So, again, I bet I'll be hearing more about them in the next couple of years. Fans of this style should absolutely look into this one. It's not for everyone, but if you listen to this general brand of metalcore on a regular basis, trust me, you won't be disappointed. I'll actually be hoping for the best for this band, 'cause I'd like to hear more from 'em, and I'm sure they'll progress just fine. (7/10)
Running time - 46:42, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Enough Friction to Start a Fire, Taking Life, Companions & Wellwishers, Hell & Highwater]
Love in the Time of Cholera - http://www.timeofcholera.com

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