Review Summary: Diluting inspiration
Despite being the second album with vocalist JT Cavey at the helm,
Neon was ERRA's first outing that was actually written with him. Unbeknownst to the band, he and primary songwriter Jesse Cash had vastly different writing styles, resulting in tense sessions in conflict over what direction to steer the ship. Cash was known at that point to cling his hand pretty heavily on the steering wheel, actively encouraging Cavey to sand down characteristics of his range during the recording of
Drift, and this control over his vocal patterns and timbre in the studio reportedly made
Neon the most strained ERRA recording process to date. Although it was able to eventually make it across the finish line, when the band was able to finally submit it for mixing they had the unfortunate luck of turning it in to somebody who reportedly did not give a *** about it, resulting in an uncanny plastic product with some of the most egregious cymbal panning in the genre. This resulted in an album met with a collective shrug.
Drift in and of itself was a polarizing release, steering the band into it's calmest, gentlest territory a little too early in the band's trajectory for it to be hit with anything but warning sirens, but at least it had an identity to it.
Neon however seemed to signal a once shining band at their most confused and lost.
With that description you'd expect a worse album than it is, but for the most part it's still a reasonably solid time. The most glaring exceptions are the instant momentum killers "Monolith" and "Disarray" in the tracklist, both far too slow for their own good complete with hooks that are simultaneously awkward and annoying, but otherwise every song at least offers glimpses of enjoyment. The writing style here is pivoting in a slightly different direction for them, seeing a heightened focus on the mixolydian template set by the
Drift title track but with more splashes of intensity in the mix. Jesse's still able to deploy a flurry of engaging riffs across the majority of these tracks, and his vocal lines for the most part at least feel like they come from his pen, albeit not as comfortable as the old albums. However, despite generally being competent enough, they either fall into formulaic territory for the band or confusingly meander. "Ultimata" is tragically guilty of this, serving as the least effective ERRA album closer to date, but even somewhat stronger songs like "Valhalla" weave without much sense of direction while forcing in melodies and breakdowns where they don't make sense because that's what an ERRA song "should" do.
Unfortunately there is no way around the fact that this album's biggest shortcoming is it's mix, and that it kneecaps even the highest of highs this album reaches. Opener "Breach" is one of the record's most electrifying and dynamic songs to an almost misleading degree, but it's hard panned drums, weird EQing and badly applied over-compression makes it dizzying in all of the wrong ways and kneecaps what could otherwise be a career highlight for the JT days. It also buries multiple sections of the songs, as there are full lead parts Jesse can be seen playing in playthroughs that are deeply challenging to actually hear. Even when the tapping is audible, it's got a pretty unpalatable sonic character that makes songs like "Valhalla" and "Expiate" get fatiguing in spite of being instrumentally very solid. This flattens the overall sonic landscape, which feels largely devoid of color and character. It's all the more unfortunate considering the pedigree of producer and Saosin alum Beau Burchell, particularly given his main band is foundational to the fabrics that make ERRA who they are. But even if they were mixed better, his post hardcore adjacent tones are still visibly not ideal for a progressive metalcore album, and would have been far more suited for a Ghost Atlas release. The mix also greatly hurts JT, where any slight bit of range he is able to exercise is so heavily EQ'd and overly processed that all the character is taken away from his performance.
Even with such a low sonic ceiling placed over it, it's highlights are still able to pierce through with some resonance. "Breach" gorgeously picks us off from the tranquil clean guitar playing that closed out
Drift before descending the listener into a much darker, more pummeling take on that album's sound that illustrates right off the bat that this record holds heavier ambitions. "Ghost of Nothing" is arguably the apex of the record, stomping through with some of Jesse's strongest riffs post
Augment until clearing the way for an all timer ERRA chorus. "Expiate" also brings some of the older ERRA flavor in the mix here and there, while flexing a tapping lead throughout that stands as another major strong snapshot on the album. And while "Ultimata" wraps up the album in an underwhelming fashion, penultimate "Unify" serves as a powerful climax to the record, complete with a guitar solo fadeout that almost feels like a modern take on the outro of "Invent". Lyrically it's made all the more profound when fit into the context of a band in the midst of learning how to work together. Considering it was initially written out of frustration regarding the conflict between the band members, it's remarkable it somehow turned into one of the record's strongest moments of synchronization and harmony.
The ridiculous amount of talent that make up ERRA keep
Neon at an acceptable level of quality, and the few significant snapshot moments elevate it up to being fairly respectable, but it is glaringly their least compelling full length. The wider context of ERRA's discography is increasingly less kind to
Neon with each passing release. Some of this has to do with the huge jump in their production value after this point, but a large part of why the self-titled was so comprehensive was out of wanting another stab at some of this terrain from a heightened place of confidence. Similarly, part of why that album sounded so hungry was due to this one not properly checking off their own boxes as a band, leaving them starving to prove themselves. Now with the release of
Cure, the band more than ever are listening for what the songs need rather than fulfilling a checklist of what makes an ERRA song, only emphasizing this record's awkwardness even further. While
Neon is more and more doomed to black sheep status with each passing release, the band's own recognition of its shortcomings at least do a lot to boost faith in them on the whole. They were able to learn all the right lessons from
Neon and re-emerged fresh with one of the most exhilarating core rebounds in recent memory.
