Review Summary: An intense listen by a promising young band that isn't getting near enough attention.
You guys remember a few weeks ago when everyone was freaking out about Wristmeetrazor? Well, I found an album in the same lane that's actually worth giving it up for. That Wristmeetrazor album was heavily compared to the last Vein album as well, and for as good as
Errorzone is, i'd say this is even better. Still_bloom is a great young band to come out of this more recent accesible wave of mathcore that blends technicality and dissonance with hardcore riffage and vocals, along with metalcore type breakdowns. This allows for an experience that can be enjoyed by many different audiences if done correctly.
It pleases me to say that these guys pull it off extremely well on
Melancholia. Seriously, this is the first project i've reviewed on this site that I haven't had a single problem with. As soon as I heard the lead single
Scanner-01 I was sold. The guitar on this album offers screechy urgent lead work mixed with crunchy riffs and breakdowns. I really appreciate the vocals here as well. Other albums like this offer these generic overdone high pitched screams that get the job done, but aren't very interesting. This vocalist offers us a quite varied performance. He shifts from highs to savage gutturals in a second, which makes for a very frantic tone. That frantic urgent tone radiates through the entire EP. It sounds like the soundtrack to the life of someone who has gone completely insane and I love it. One other thing I appreciate is, unlike the albums I mentioned at the beginning of this review, this album never lets up on the intensity. It never slows down or get clean, it sinks it's teeth into your throat and mauls you and it doesn't let go for 18 minutes straight. The lyrics continue with the theme of someone losing their mind and sinking into insanity.
This is a truly fun, brutal listen that I heavily reccommend. I knew I had to review this one once I heard it, because it is always sad to see smaller acts getting outshined by less noteworthy bands. Definitely give this a listen, and keep an eye out for these guys.
