Review Summary: This is how modern emoviolence should be done.
When my friend told me about this band, I was skeptical to say the least. He told me that there was a screamo band from our area playing at the small local venue, The Oasis. Only those who live here know what this ***hole has to offer. 95% of the time, the bands that play here are generic hardcore/deathcore/metalcore bands made up of teenagers with big gauges and small brains and the only attendees are other teenagers with even bigger gauges and even smaller brains. There is the occasional band that comes through that has potential, but those few and far between bands isn't worth the $5 admission fee. The fact that any sort of screamo band could be from our area, much less a good one, seemed dubious at best, especially considering out genericore output of our area.
But I must say, I’m surprised. The first song starts out with the ever-so-common low-production guitar feedback in the background and the drumstick count in, a disheartening sign. But then it hits. A wall of emoviolence fury that wouldn’t sound out of place in any classic emoviolence band from the early 2000’s. The blast beats and dissonant guitar chords give a blackened hardcore aesthetic to the song that perfectly melds with the screamed vocals. The vocals in the song vary from run of the mill screamo vocals to death growls to a Jeromes Dream wailing, utilizing the latter two of the three simultaneously in a haunting manner. Without missing a beat, the song then transitions into a sludgy breakdown, allowing for a nice change of pace without disrupting the feel of the song. They avoiding spending too much time on the top two strings and the first two frets, already separating themselves from the rest of the hardcore scene and the monotonous sounding breakdowns that plague the genre.
The next song is a more traditional screamo song, relying on mainly trichords, octave chords, and frenetic drumming that the genre is known for. The more familiar nature of the song does little to hurt the album, though. They still make the song their own, separating themselves from the screamo revival pack. The varied vocals, unique breakdowns, and noise ridden outro ensure that the song doesn’t assimilate too much with the rest of the album.
Sometimes the songs can feel a bit formulaic (hard hitting intro into breakdown until the end), but the final song seems to break that chain. Being twice as long as the next longest song, and making up half of the entire album’s length, the song certainly is a change of pace. Starting out with spacey bass line over dissonantly picked guitar and the drummer just lightly tapping the cymbals. The singer desperately screams along. The song certainly has a different atmosphere the rest of the album. The song continues to build until it bursts into a wild screamo frenzy, then settles back into its original state. Or at least it tries to. The song isn’t quite able to settle back into its first form. The almost spoken word style of vocals on the second verse and the more involved drumming creates a change in atmosphere. Like the song’s been scarred by its earlier outbreak and isn’t quite the same. The song build back up into a screamo climax until fades and meanders between mid tempo and the sludgier tempo displayed in the earlier songs.
The different genre influences do a lot for the album as well. On songs like “the vultures are waiting to pick yr bones”, you can hear an early metalcore sound coming through on the breakdown. A lot of modern screamo albums tend to stick to the same screamo sound throughout the album. Black Nail’s debut dabbles in a surprising amount of hardcore and metal sub genres for an EP with a just over 9 and a half minute run time. The vocal stylings are similar to that of a DSBM record, or an old school death metal record. The drumming wouldn’t be out of place on a grind record and sometimes the guitar is reminiscent of 2nd generation black metal.
The lyrical content isn’t a shining star on the album, nor does it significantly diminish the album’s quality. The lyrics deal with such general hardcore themes of death, nothingness, torment, etc, but they’re well written enough to remain unique and interesting enough to keep the listener engaged. Something Black Nail does that a lot of screamo band don’t do is that their lyrics follow a rhyme scheme. A lot of screamo bands often take advantage of their frequently inaudible lyrics to forgo any sort of rhyme scheme to better express their ideas and emotions. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it is interesting to see a screamo band taking the time to get a rhyme scheme going with their songs. The song titles are quite interesting as well, but don’t always directly relate back to the lyrics.
Instrumentally, the album isn’t anything particularly spectacular either, but is far from bad and keeps its footing. The guitar does what it’s supposed to do and does it well, the bass is audible and follows along. If I had to pick the strongest instrument on the album, it’d likely be the drumming. Providing the appropriate rhythm for the guitar to march along to, the drums walk tall next to the leading guitar, the drums sometimes even leading the charge. The mixing and production on the album is also very solid. A lot of modern hardcore and metal, especially in the underground scene, have mixing and production that is either unnaturally squeaky clean or unlistenably poor, either of which can be a major hindrance in an album's quality. The mixing and production on this record is as good as it's going to get, recalling back to earlier emoviolence records of the 2000’s. At times, the vocals are a tad overpowering in the mix and can feel like it’s lacking that special something, but considering this band is just starting out, I’m still impressed to say the least.
The album is not without its flaws, though. The short run time leaves a lot to be desired on the album. They seem to say most of what they need to say, but with only four songs in under ten minutes, it leaves the listener wanting a more. If you don't pay close enough attention, it can go over your head without leaving much of an impression. The formulaic approach to three out of the four songs can get a bit repetitive, making the already assimilated nature of the album more forgettable at times, quickly fading into background music. Some parts of the breakdowns on the album could be interchanged with one another without much of an upset in the music.
Maybe it’s my bias towards screamo. Maybe it’s because they’re from my area. Maybe it was my low expectations going into the album. Whatever it is, I really feel something special with these guys. Overall, this is a very solid emoviolence EP that successfully blends other genres, while still keeping its own sound. It's far from perfect, but for a debut from a tiny band, this ain't too bad at all.
3.3/5
