Review Summary: Drifting Apart Until We Fall
Growth is essential to longevity as we’ve seen with numerous successful bands in modern metalcore. Choosing a direction that both satisfies an existing fanbase and allows for genuine creativity for the musicians is a finicky balance that makes or breaks so many artists but in the case of Like Moths to Flames, they have seemingly moved into a creative space over their last few releases that hits the sweet spot. Formulating a beautiful union between fast, frantic, technical metalcore with immense melodic hooks without feeling shoehorned for the sake of accessibility. Following up the excellence of releases like ‘No Eternity in Gold’ and ‘Pure Like Porcelain’ is no easy task but LMTF have clearly fed off the challenge and have unleashed maybe their most captivating and well-rounded record to date.
The opening one-two punch of “Angels Weep” and “Paradigm Trigger” which happened to be our first exposure to this new era as they were released together as teasers, are no-nonsense bangers, highlighted by fast-paced technical drum work as well as some of lead vocalist Chirs Roetter’s most impressive growled vocals, summoning demonic lows and shrieking highs unlike we’ve heard from him prior. These singles feel like direct extensions of songs like “Fluorescent White” and “Preservation of Hate” off their last couple outings, really homing in on intensity and pace with elements of melody tossed into the fray occasionally. Also on display is lead guitarist Zach Pishney’s unique riff work leaning heavily on pinch harmonics and seamlessly weaving leadwork into rhythm patterns almost acting as two guitar players in one.
A given on any LMTF release is Roetter’s introspective lyricism which often focuses on struggle, depression, anxiety, anger and other emotions not unfamiliar to heavy music. On “Over the Garden Wall” Roetter explores an internal dialogue of depression and suicide leaning into visuals of vines and mold hindering his progress in life; “Overgrown like a vine, rooted into the hands of the clock, killing time, Am I just unwell these days, I’m not myself.” There’s no shortage of thought-provoking ideals splattered through the lyrics on this record with the track “To Know is To Die” exploring the frailty of life itself, the day-to-day dilemma of why do we survive? While not necessarily offering an answer to these inquiries, Roetter explores the darker liminal spaces of thought wondering what it would be like not to be here, to not encapsulate a physical space.
Transitioning back into the music side of this record, there’s a clear focus on diversity and decidedly investigating the many sides this band has dipped their toes in the past. A song like “Kintsugi” is a clear nod to a more ballady approach with mostly clean vocal melodies and swells of emotion impacting eardrums with less need for technicality. On the other, “The Shepherd’s Crown” is no frills heavy start-to-finish with little room to breathe, harnessing an overt desire to create something relentless that doesn’t need an expository chorus with a sharp contrasting melody to interrupt the flow of technicality. But also, this melding of heavy and melody is an integral part to their sound and success which is why a majority of tracks here can be seen utilizing this function of heavy verses, big riffs, sweaty breakdowns with big melodies nicely fitting into the tracks to over some space, some openness and room to breathe away from those crushing sections.
The most impressive part of this record is the consistency where dips in quality, dips in energy don’t seem to exist. It’s solid track after solid track with each melody and breakdown feeling essential to whole of this record. With eleven tracks at forty minutes, I feel like LMTF don’t overstay their welcome and offer us fans a nice concise slab of metalcore that we can enjoy over and over again. If I had to offer some sort of criticism, it might be that the formula that LMTF have established for themselves with this record isn’t new by any standard; it’s tried and true in many ways with many bands lurking into the heaviest and most technical sides of metalcore while still being able to establish a catchy tune but at the same time, my bias convinces me that LMTF are some of the best to do this style. They make it their own, they have a sort of niche following that is ravenous for this sound and are loyal to the core and I’m part of that. This is one of those releases that I have been anticipating for a long time and it did not disappoint!
