10-06-2011

Farting the Pee between Brightness and Me

The new Touché Amoré album is called Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me, and it's one of the best albums of 2011. Much like …To The Beat Of A Dead Horse was one of the best albums of 2009. Very much alike, indeed.

Deathwish Inc. Records, 2011
Tracks:
1. ~
2. Pathfinder
3. The Great Repitition
4. Art Official
5. Uppers / Downers
6. Crutch
7. Method Act
8. Face Ghost
9. Sesame
10. Wants / Needs
11. Condolences
12. Home Away From Here
13. Amends

So, yeah, wowie. Holy fuck. This record is tits. (Is that appropriate to say?)

Track 1. ~ or Tilde. "Oh, this seems nice. Quiet guitar arpeggios." NO IT'S NOT THIS IS GODDAMN HARDCORE MUSIC. You should always be at the edge of your seat when you listen to Touché Amoré. And if you're not, they will put you there.
The beginning of the album, PTSBBAM for short (sounds like a rimshot), is easily my favourite part. Touché Amoré have sticked to the same formula but have upgraded it to version 2.01. The songs are still short, to the point, pungent and full of incredible riffs. With Touché Amoré, vocals are really complementary to the music. It fits, it's balanced. The lyrics are awesome as usual. They make sense, but are enigmatic as well. Or rather clever, such as "To look up to me is to look down on everything". That's one thing that stands the band apart from other bands. Another thing is the sensibility to create a euphony of sound. The guitar melodies are better than ever, for example in Pathfinder, Method Act and Home Away From Here.
They also don't stop playing. Ever. The album feels like one entirity, thanks to a well-sequenced tracklist. Until you reach track 11, which is a bit the odd-one-out. Condolences. Warning: this will affect you. A beautiful piano part is supported by the vocalist's screams. The effect is rather emotional. This probably would've been 'better off' being sung rather than screamed, but the screaming lifts the power of the song to another level. Transcendent music, much like the message of it.
As I said, there's a strict 'no bullshit'-policy on this record. 13 songs in 20 minutes prove that. No superfluous solos, no stretching of any lyrics, barely any intros or outros. Essential stuff.

If you're looking for a great modern hardcore/screamo record, this is your shot. The band isn't different than they were in 2009, but they're difinitely better. On of the best contemporary hardcore-bands, as far as I'm concerned.
Catch them on tour in Europe this summer!
I have this problem where I wanna be everywhere I'm not.

1 opmerking:

  1. But I’m thankful for what I’ve got, a room in a house where my bed may stay...

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