Having been veterans of the UK underground for well over a decade now, to see Svalbard slowly but surely rising through the ranks and gaining greater momentum from album to album has been joyful. Their highly emotive and relatable lyricism paired with their unique sound, blending post-hardcore, black metal and post-rock/metal winning fans over up and down the country along with their stellar live performances. Dropping their 2020 album When I Die, Will I Get Better? under turbulent circumstances still saw the band fielding an offer from and inevitably signing to Nuclear Blast Records. Turning their focus inwards on internal strife, new album The Weight Of The Mask is a candid display of inner turmoil and attempts to cope with decaying mental health.
Kicking things off in grand fashion with “Faking It”, the lead single released alongside news of the album, laying forth everything that Svalbard’s fans have come to expect. Intricate, shimmering melodies over dramatic and emotional chord progressions before breaking into the blackened post-hardcore we’ve all come to love. Vocalist and lead guitarist Serena Cherry’s lyricism hits brutally honest from the first flag, encapsulating the themes of juxtaposition in the album perfectly. “Faking It” conceptually explores the realisation that you’re so deep into a depression that you no longer recognise yourself, you’re “Faking It” just to get by every day, putting on a mask to face the day and slowly, but surely, noticing the weight it carries. Immediately following is “Eternal Spirits”, released all the way back in February, a touching tribute to musicians and heroes lost too soon in the alternative world. Tragic melodies are strewn throughout, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Liam Phelan’s additional violin parts add to the sorrowful atmosphere as well as Serena’s delicate clean vocal work punctuating the emotion.
Best Ex is one of the best executions of a scene-gone-pop artist. With A Smile delves into many themes: exes, loves, anxiety, OCD, womanhood, and self-doubt. The title itself is a reference to society’s expectations of how women should present themselves. It’s a lot to tackle in forty minutes, but Loveland proves that she knows how to craft a concise album.
A lush introduction sets the stage. It indicates the conscientiousness of With A Smile: grandiose, but not exhausting; slick, but not ritzy. Loveland’s time in the music business is on display on the second track, “Tell Your Friends”, with its sharp, tight melodies. “Tell Your Friends” is supported by beautifully layered production, which is prevalent throughout the record. Its twelve tracks have a winning variety of song structures, instrumentation, catchy melodies, dance-worthy hooks, and lyrics alternately sly, smart, and sweet.
“Tell Your Friends” brings the sly slights with lines like: “For all of the girls who came after me / Did they know they signed up / To be a single mom / To a 30-year-old who already has one?” On the flip side, “Stay With Me” is bittersweet. The singer pleads with the subject over a mid-tempo waltz time, which suggests one final dance before they go their separate ways. “Joyride” slips in a dose of sweetness, as Loveland sings about meeting her husband. “Daylight” closes the album, and what a closer it is: Loveland drops the witty conversational bent and lets her poetic metaphors shine. It’s a surefire favorite for the sad kids.
Spirit of Vengeance are among the vastly growing list of DIY bands from Canada that we have the pleasure of shining some light on. These Toronto heavyweights have made quite the reputation for themselves in the last couple of years; known for their high energy shows, incredibly rabid mosh pits, and all around heavy and ignorant beatdown style they bring to a record. Spirit Of Vengeance have proven they bust their butts harder than most groups, both on and off the stage. Having recently dropped a brand new EP, titled 2023 Promo, listeners are graced with two brand new tracks from the quartet. Spirit Of Vengeance are also some of the first in the Ontario hardcore scene to add a live track to one their records; quite the treat for fans. 2023 Promo is yet another record engineered and produced by the talented Andy Dmytryshyn (Reality Denied/School House Studios) in recent months as well. Having established themselves among some of the province’s best acts while gaining quite the fanbase in the process, Spirit Of Vengeance are becoming one of the hottest metal acts in Ontario. The group means business and this latest demonstration further proves that.
Opening up this beast of a record is “Kiss The Grave”. Roughly 2.5 minutes long, this track sets the tone for the EP perfectly. Kiss The Grave gives listeners exactly what they expect from a Spirit Of Vengeance record in its first couple of minutes and that is exactly what we love in a hardcore record. Full of slamming breakdowns, two stepping thrashy guitar riffs, and vocals so raw that Gordon Ramsay would point it out. We are also blessed this record with some solid recordings of bassist Blaine Webster absolutely crushing it on backing vocals. The group have stuck with a sound that works for them on this third release while also making it obvious they’re pushing their boundaries as a group making this opening track one of their best to date.
In the last eight years, they’ve released just two albums to date, Unicorn marking their third album and, unsurprisingly, it’s just as jam-packed with features from across the musical spectrum as ever. It’s also a massive undertaking, asking for just over an hour of your time which is a big ask; the good news is, that Gunship mostly justify the runtime, but there’s definitely room to trim back some of their more egregious excesses.
It makes a strong start with ‘Monster In Paradise’, a cinematic sprawl of pounding 80s pop beats and melodies. It features Wargasm’s Milkie Way, who trades vocal lines with Alex Westaway throughout to electrifying effect. There’s also contributions from legendary drummer Dave Lombardo and Tyler Bates, in a star-studded opener to the album that’s anthemic and easy dancefloor fodder. ‘Tastes Like Venom’ is another solid floorfiller, but it feels like it’s lacking some oomph, or perhaps just the star-studded remainder of Unicorn’s other opening songs overshadow it.
Triumphant sets at Outbreak this year, a constantly-growing following; it’s all going right for the Long Islanders. Three years in and a slew of lauded EPs, debut album Would You Miss It? arrives with a bang, the sound of a band who’ve poured everything they have into a collection of songs that sound like misspent summers spinning your favourite records from growing up as well as a wry wistfulness, all the while without sounding dated itself.
‘51st State’ is an uproarious opener, barreling out the gates with vocalist Joseph Chiaramonte’s buoyant, slightly gravelly tones. It sets the scene for the remainder of Would You Miss It? with its joyous, nostalgic and anthemic nature, like it’s custom built to get fists pumping and throats sore from shouting the words back. ‘You’re On the List (minus one)’ is bouncy with driving guitars reminiscent of early New Found Glory, its chorus embracing a half-time melody. The most important thing Koyo manage though, throughout the album, is to inject a dose of melancholy almost wistfulness that fits its autumnal release perfectly.
The Manchester group’s debut LP and the follow up their fantastic 2019 EP All At Your Mercy, Affinity Within disregards the dull and strained lyrical conventions of the genre aforementioned to instead focus on the lives and stories of others far removed from the band. Instead of being comprised of songs detailing mundane tales of love lost, this body of work explores the lives who have experienced the human condition to it’s most extreme extent. It’s a record that, for example, weaves the tales of the 18th century Russian emperor Alexander I and his escape to self-imposed exile, and the story of Amos Clift, a lighthouse keeper who witnessed how sociocultural issues escalated to starvation and open gang warfare in 1800’s San Francisco. This inspired subject, combined with Pleiades driven and expressive take on the genre, makes for a record that truly explores what it truly means to be human in a form utterly driven.
Sounding akin to impassioned monologues delivered with the sense of breathless urgency that mirrors one’s final moments, ‘Honeyguide’, ‘Siberian’ and ‘Stomach’ open the record with both haste and composure in equal measures. As vocalist Andrew Calderbank details the tales of the characters each track explores through a first person perspective, one immediately resonates with the inner-conflict, anxiety, fear and mental turmoil of these individuals. Granted, like said, post-hardcore has long been a genre reserved for making the listener sympathise with the emotions being expressed, but here, such emotions are tangible and infectious. Even with Calderbank placing themselves in shoes belonging to other people – the majority being vacant for centuries – they deliver a performance that just resonates passion and urgency, fully emphasising the emotional vitality in these stories.
