Damn, I have to say, this one starts off with a bang that hits pretty fucking hard. The band does in fact play a brand of screaming/singing melodic emo blended with ultra aggressive metalcore (among other influences that I'll touch on later), but you'd be a fool to toss this off as just another one of "those bands", because it's just so painfully evident that they have more to offer right from the start. The riffs are more intricate and involved; the screaming is clearer and more textured and sincere, while the singing is well controlled and not at all overused; and the songwriting is simply more mature, more creative, and more powerful than the vast majority of what I hear from this particular niche of the genre these days. And despite the fact that the songs average a mere three minutes apiece, these kids are cramming in a lot of content rather fluidly. There are lots of winding ascending/descending riffs and pull-offs throughout, and the band's possibly a little too reliant on that stuff even if they are pretty good at it, but thankfully that playing style is always gracefully wrapped up in a variety of textures, from dense powers chords or lightly dissonant post-hardcore textures to slick picking patterns and colorful arpeggiated runs that I'm totally into. And to the band's credit they are not trying to write catchy songs here at all. The material is memorable, but it's definitely artistic, there's very little (if any) verse/chorus stuff here, and they are not in any way pulling the whole "screaming during the verses, singing during the choruses" thing, because the songs don't follow commonplace arrangements. "Thus From My Lips, By Yours, My Sin is Purged" opens up right away with a shitload of energy and tons of quick changes that catch my attention right away and definitely aid in indicating that the rest of the record should be an intriguing listen; all of which continues in the equally complex layering of "Love Jealous One, Love" - which actually offers more of a clear-cut contrast between some of the melodic areas and the churning heaviness, as well as the singing and screaming. Nicely done. "Bloodsucker Pt. II" is a little more straightforward structurally with several chord progressions that drop back to a more simplistic and rocked out framework, which is pretty rare throughout the album as a whole, but there are still some cool effects with decaying distortion and mild electronics towards the closing moments; while "The Widow" opens almost like a ballad with some lightly strummed chords and subdued singing over distant percussion and faint distortion effects, remaining consistent right up to its final moments, slowly surging into the much heavier and more rhythmic "Wake Dead Man, Wake". Similarly, "Admission: Regret" has a little more of a rhythmic pulse and gives the bass a bit more breathing room before the slightly caustic sliding chords dive in, which makes for a damn nice buildup; and "One: Twentyseven" has some heavier and more abrasive chords as well, picking things up a bit towards the close of the disc. Nearly seven-minute closer "Of Want and Misery: The Nothing That Kills" continues to highlight some of the band's exceptional dual guitar interaction and offers one excellent laidback passage of piano and clean guitars that explodes back to full force in order to close with one of the most powerful moments on the disc - much like it began. The recording sounds excellent, as I've come to expect from bands on this label. The drums are nice and thick, the bass adds just enough massive density to make itself known without particularly being a dominant force (which is actually pretty nice since the bass playing does help accent the drummer's performance), and the guitars sound great whether they're shooting for a dryer sort of angular indie rock sound, bright clean passages, or crisp yet robust distortion for the crunchier rhythms. As briefly mentioned earlier, the vocals are pretty clear, and that's a big help in giving them a little more of an edge, but they don't pop out in front of the music either, which is always important. The layout is gorgeous as well, also as expected from the Solid Sate camp. The booklet opens up into a four-panel square with beautiful artwork on one half and tiny, crisp text over flat black panels on the other. The imagery is heavily textured and quite suggestive in its simplicity, while the text is a little hard to read but still looks excellent. Everything is printed with a matte finish to boot, which always looks killer. The lyrics seem to tie together like a concept that deals with issues of love, trust, abandonment and I guess ultimately forgiveness, or at least subsistence through tolerance, and the christian angle isn't at all something that should irritate secular listeners: "Someone show me a hole in this cycle, Show me the way away and I'm coming back the way I came, No! I've seen this place before, Surely this is no place for the light of this world..." All of this is extremely impressive, especially considering the band hasn't even existed more than a couple of years just yet, so... I'll be very much looking forward to hearing more from them in the future, because they're pushing the boundaries just enough to leave a mark, while not particularly stepping outside of their genre's turf. Really the only thing holding me back from giving this an 8/10 is the fact that there are a few too many similarities from song to song in terms of general riffing style and overall character. But trust me, that's a minor consequence here. This is a great record... definitely a bright spot in an overcrowded genre that's been too content with the same old song and dance lately.
[Solid State]
Running time - 35:54, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Thus From My Lips, By Yours, My Sin is Purged, Incomplete is a Leech, Admission: Regret, Of Want and Misery: The Nothing That Kills]
Solid State Records - http://www.solidstaterecords.com
