Review: Hands of Despair – The Crimson Boughs (And Other Short Tales)

Style: Progressive Death/Black Metal (mixed vocals)
Review by: Zach (prelude by Sam)
Country: Canada
Release date: 3 December 2021

Hello there. Sam here. I will not be the one writing this review since I’m in a bit of burnout writing-wise, but this is a very special band for me so I will be writing a small prelude. The previous outing by this band – Well of the Disquieted – is not only my favorite album ever covered on this blog and part of my personal top 10 period, but was also a large factor in starting this blog in the first place. I once found it browsing the depths of Metal-Archives. There were a couple of other good releases, but it was Well which opened my eyes to the quality that could come out of the underground. Back then I did everything myself, and now three years later, one of our earliest readers now turned writer – Zach – is going to tell you all about their new one. 

Let’s go back a few years to 2018. A younger Zach was finishing up his first semester of college and putting far more effort into chipping away at the underground prog scene than his classes. Ever since he started following this brand spanking new blog, The Progressive Subway, he found so many cool new bands that he would’ve never found otherwise. But one stood head and shoulders above the rest. Hands of Despair with their whopping 1 hour and 16 minute Well of the Disquieted. Practically legendary in his eyes. I’d gladly put it among the likes of Blackwater Park and Ne Obliviscaris’ near perfect discography.

It would be negligent of me to not talk about Well before we talk about Crimson. That record is sheer sonic perfection. Not a second squandered, every riff hitting when it needs to and never over or under staying its welcome, a duet between death and black metal vocals, beautiful cleans, some of the greatest drumming I’ve ever heard, immaculate production, a 16 minute song that feels like 8. The audible, thick bass deserves its own sentence because of how out-fucking-standing it is. It was worthy of the solid 11/10 my friend and fellow reviewer Sam gave Well many moons ago, a review I credit with slingshotting me headfirst further into the underground.

But, with a record as perfect as Well, one can only think, “Now what?”. You’ve reached the apex as a band, surely you can’t follow up with something better? There’s so much to live up to following a record like Well. Either they pull a Colors II and it’s going to be on rotation for the next millennia, or they pull a The Work and I’m going to be dealing with crushing disappointment for the next six months. As excited as I was for Crimson, I couldn’t help but be cautiously optimistic. Surely, they can’t make something that good again, can they?

I don’t understand this band. I’m fully convinced they came from a different planet to put the best prog death/black on this Earth and leave no room for competition. Hands of Despair need to relax, take it easy for a little while. Let everyone else catch up and then maybe even the playing field a bit. Maybe a vacation in the Bahamas for a little while would do them good?

I can’t possibly fathom any other way they keep putting out consistently amazing material. Surely there must be some magic at play here. Something in the water in Quebec? It’s like they just pull amazing riffs out of thin air! ‘They Say Their Screams Can Still Be Heard’ is just about the best album opener I’ve heard since Cryptodira’s ‘Self-(Affect/Efface)’. It immediately sets the stage for a heavier, (somehow) darker album than Well, while still retaining the HoD identity we all know and love. The thundering, prominent bass is still there. The blast beats and distinctly Opethian riffs are still there. But it’s more refined than ever. Right off the bat, this record’s production is (again, somehow) better than Well. The guitars sound crisp and deliciously bassy, and Jeff Mott sounds scarier than ever. That “MARCH!” breakdown is guaranteed to make you lose your shit.

‘Drowned’ is the perfect counter to that first track. Frantic, fast, nicely encapsulated in 4 minutes on an album of almost all 8+ minute songs. But, even in these measly 4 minutes, HoD pulls out all stops as usual, complete with some beautiful keyboard and lead guitar work. ‘A Taste for Flesh’ is heavy enough to kill three elephants and ‘Aokigahara’ lives up to its name with sheer melancholic brutality dripping from every instrument.

And that leaves us with two songs left. ‘Hecatombe’ is this album’s ‘Doppelganger’, the immediate standout track upon first listen. The buildup starting from a little after the 5-minute mark, into the solo, into one of the heaviest sections I’ve ever heard is pure musical bliss. But ‘The Crimson Boughs’, the 12-minute epic that closes out this album, is what solidifies my score. A showcase of this band’s talent, and how much they’ve matured as songwriters over the years. This is an album that needs an incredible closer, just as the cherry on top to this five-star meal you’re treated to. Gloomy clean notes turn to chugs turn to Mott’s best screams of “CRIMSOOON, CRIMSOOON!”, which precedes the evilest sounding clean vocals section this band has ever produced.

I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. I spun this album for about three weeks straight. Every day, at least once a day. I practically ground this album into a fine powder and snorted the ever-loving shit out of it, trying to find a flaw. None of the songs could be a second shorter. None of the typical prog metal overindulgence. Nothing.

Here’s where I summarize my thoughts by telling you that this album is, once again, sonic perfection. Hopefully, you’ve just saved yourself some time and scrolled down to my score just to get to the album quicker. Can’t say I blame you. Hands of Despair, you should give yourselves a pat on the back. I’m no longer scared of you guys faltering, I’m just scared of how the next album is going to top this.

Recommended tracks: The whole thing
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, In Mourning, Hath
You may also like:  Epiphanie, Dragonauta, IER, The Antichrist Imperium
Final verdict: 10/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page

Label: Independent

Hands of Despair is:
– Maxime Côté (Guitars, Bass)
– Alexandre Primeau (Guitars)
– Jeff Mott (Vocals, Lyrics)
– Michel Bélanger (Drums)
– Samuel Arseneau-Roy, Tobias Netzell, Viky Boyer (Additional vocals)
– Raphael Weinroth-Browne (Cello)