Style: progressive/alternative rock (clean vocals)
Review by: Evan
Country: Sweden
Release date: December 11, 2020
Musical minimalism can be both a blessing and a curse: it allows more focus to be placed on each part, which in turn requires each part to carry more weight. Alternative/Indie rock styles often pride themselves on having a minimalist/stripped-down style and A Brighter Decay, ie at Heart’s debut LP, is no exception. Sadly, the album’s components fail to leverage the extra weight they require, and the album, at many points, feels empty.
With the certainly not cliché hook and thesis out of the way, we can move to everyone’s favorite part of the review, the name-dropping (I promise I’ll only do a few). The sound of A Brighter Decay lies somewhere in between Karnivool and Tool with the more “poppy”/melodic approach of the former with a few psychedelic borrowings from the latter (I kept my promise). The music does seem to be very vocal-centric, perhaps more similar, at least in that regard, to standard alternative rock than progressive alternative rock. The vocals supply the melody and are far in front of the mix throughout the album.
It might be for the best that the vocals top the mix, because they are probably the most memorable thing about the album. Actually, they are probably the only memorable thing about the album. They may not be mind-blowing, but they are technically proficient, carry interesting melodies, and evoke a certain feeling of nostalgia. The songwriting is fine, having a chorus-oriented approach but still featuring some interesting shifts in time, builds, etc.
You’ve read this far and I still haven’t supported my thesis? What kind of a reviewer am I anyway? Well, here goes: the instrumental performances in an album like this need far more variety and motion. There are no potent guitar riffs (too much distorted chord playing, too little riffing) and only a few notable solos. The guitar needs to fill way more space in an album with so few parts. The bass parts are not bad, but turned so low they’re often hard to hear. The drumming, on the other hand, suffers like the guitars in the lack of powerful parts; moreover, the drum mix makes the drums sound “muddy.” The instrumental parts also sound rather similar from track to track.
Ultimately, the space simply isn’t filled, hence the empty feeling the album has. The solid vocal performance makes the album a pleasant listen, but not a memorable one.
Recommended tracks: Slide, Ordinary War, 19
Recommended for fans of: Karnivool, Tool, Riverside
Final verdict: 4/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook |
Label: Independent
ie at Heart is:
– David Linghammar (vocals/guitars)
– Erik Lingharmmar (drums)
– Victor Liman (bass)
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