Music Reviews

So apparently saying the same word over and over and making some of it’s parts longer ISN’T considered a review… But everyone who has heard this thing KNOWS that that is the only appropriate way to react to this album: WHAAA- (ok I said I’m actually not gonna do that again this time). So yeah, this thing is great – it’s only February but I’m pretty sure no record this year is gonna top this one right here. It’s everything and more I ever wanted from the band and with the context of Isaac Wood leaving the band to focus on his mental health it hits even harder than I innitially thought. So I’m gonna do my best at breaking down why I think this is an absolute masterpiece, but truly and honestly no words could do this thing justice, you gotta hear it to believe it.

Every track here packs a different emotional punch and every single one of them is unique in their own way (except maybe the intro and „Mark’s Theme“, but even that is such an unbelievably beautiful piece to the puzzle) and yet they mash together seemlessly creating a gorgeous cohesive story that flows from one track to another like a knife through butter (which rhymed, so it must be true). Anyways as I said the intro track (simply called „Intro“) is probably the weakest of the bunch – I do believe it has it’s rightful place on the album as it sets the tone fairly well and serves as a pretty smooth transition into the next tracl (which we’ll get into in a bit), but considering how the last record didn’t waste anytime in letting messing around with it’s opener, then this is kind of a step-down from that. Then again this album is much more different and I believe ultimately better expirience than that album was, so I can turn a blind eye toit and move on to the real first track of the album, which is „Chaos Space Marine“ and oh my god what a name for a song. This is probably the „happiest“ sounding song on the album and I think it’s very well placed here because it showcases many of the album’s main sound palates aswell as getting you hyped for what’s about to come. Also this and many other songs on this album are huge growers – like innitially I didn’t really care for this cut but it won me over as I gave it more listens and thank god I did, because it has become one of my favorites of the whole album and believe me when I say that the bar is set really high. I LOVE how diverse this song is – there is constantly something new being added in and new sounds and melodies being brought up, it’s constantly evolving and you never know what to expect – „Chaos Space Marine“ is honestly how this song feels, it’s chaotic and it just feels like a giant space marine for some reason – really hit the nail on the head with the name on this one. The next song „Concorde“ is where the album truly begins to reveal it’s true colors and you hear the shift in the sound instantly – it’s much more moody, much more dreary and much more soft. This whole song is like a giant build-up to the huge crescendo at the end and honestly I can’t really complain about anything I’m hearing here – unlike the last song, this is much more focused and much more serious and as a result I start taking it more seriously. The instrumental is gentle, slowly building in it’s power and just it’s sheer volume until it hits that peak where it feels like the emotional struggle has just become too much to handle. Isaac Wood’s vocal performance nad lyrics portray this feeling of hopelesness really well, it’s like you can hear the pain through the lyrics – it’s once again one of my favorite moments on the record (you’re probably gonna hear this a lot throughout the review, so get used to it lol). „Bread Song“ is kind of like the calm after the storm if you will and essentially consists of two parts – the first one being just really gentle guitar plucking with Isaac’s broken lyrics over it that colapse together into this beautiful musical blanket that you just never leave – and then when you think it can’t get any better than this the drums kick in and oh my god, what a moment that is. The song becomes much more colorful with it’s instruments and suddenly it feels like you’ve been transported to a different dimension – again, just an insane display of musicianship and musical mastery. Isaac again flexes his lyrical abilities here, talking about a crumbling relationship reffering to it as „bread crumbs“ (hence the name „Bread Song“), just some really smart analogies and once the weight of it all hits you – it hits you. „Good Will Hunting“ is the first non-single song on the album (not counting in the intro) and is also where I was starting to get worried at first – what if they manage to screw it up somehow? Well I should have had more faith in the group, because this song is on the same level as those songs are – I adore the female vocalist supporting Isaac’s broken voice and how it compliments the pounding piano with the kickdrums and everything – again, just the way they blend all of this together sounds like it shouldn’t work on paper but they just manage to pull it of regardless. I also love how really just intense the second part of the song, it has to be one of Wood’s best vocal performances on the whole record – also I don’t know what effect they used on the guitars here but they sound out of this world, it really helps portray this feeling of just completely loosing it. Once again, the lyrics talk about a failing relationship, possibly unrequited love and the struggles that come with that – it’s just so incredibly saddening. „Haldern“ is definetly one of my favorite musical moments on the album – again serving as sort of a calm after the strom, this track has some really breath-taking piano leads, really gives many of the usually more hidden members of the band a moment to shine – and when the saxophones (?) are added in? I mean it takes the song from „great“ to „MAGNIFICENT“. Also the way the saxophone sounds for the majority of the second part of that song reminds me of Clown Core for some reason, just thouht I mention that- never really though I’d be mentioning Clown Core in a review about BC, NR but here we are. „Mark’s Theme“ is a song I don’t have much to say about to be honest, it’s more of a interlude then a song really – it at least gives you some breahting space, before the final three asolute titans of tracks. Speaking of which the next song is „The Place Where He Inserted the Blade“ and I’m gonna be honest here – this is my favorite song not only of the whole album, but of the year so far. For many people it’s the closer „Basketball Shoes“ and I get that, that song is insane – but this one just really felt like a blade inserted into my heart, because it really cut deep. And I know that may sound a little too melo-dramatic, but that’s this record in a nutshell – it embraces it and you can much more easily put yourself in the shoes of the protagonist of this story (basketball shoes if you will). And I mean it, this song is everythin and I mean everything I ever wanted from this group – it’s raw, it packs a punch, it has layers, it’s colorful and insrumentally rich, it’s desperate and yet comforting in a way and it feels like the weight of the world collapsing on top of you and you are powerless to stop it. The choice of chords is absolutely astonishing and fits the song perfectly and everything feels like it’s placed in it’s right place. After this absolute emotional drain you are comoforted with „Snow Globes“, a 9 minute opus to heal your wounds and give you even the slightest glimmer of hope that things are gonna be okay at the end, even though it hurts like hell – you’re gonna be alright. That’s at least how the song feels to me, lyrically it’s much more deeper than that, but after the emotional rollercoaster you expirience with this album this I feel as is the protagonist being at his absolute lowest but still choosing to keep going in hope of things getting better – and that’s how this song feels to me. I would especially like to highlight the drumwork on this song, it is really impressive and fits the chaotic nature of this album super well. Now for the final song „Basketball Shoes“ – yeah I mean duh, it’s good. I think people calling this already the SONG OF THE DECADE is a bit of a stretch, but there is an argument to be made about the significance and the impact this song has and proaly will hae. It feels like the perfect climax to this album and is THE emotional highpoint of the album for many – which I totally get, I just slighly prefer „The Place…“, but that’s just me. Still a fantastic song and a perfect way to wrap this album up – like you know an album is good when the first thing you do after finnishing listening to it is play it again.

Wow, I wish I wrote this good in my school essays… But like in those I’m kinda lost for words right now. This album really blew my already insanely high expectations out of the water – I have really high doubts that any album this year is gonna come even close to the magnificence of this project. An absolute emotional journey from the start to finnish, I honestly can’t give this album anything but that sweet sweet…

Strong 9/10

…

just kidding, here’s how I would actually rate it:

-favorite tracks: Chaos Space Marine, Concorde, Bread Song, Good Will Hunting, Haldern, The Place Where He Inserted the Blade, Snow Globes, Basketball Shoes

-least favorite tracks: Intro (if I had to pick one)

10/10