Unusual among the albums that I really liked this year, Hearts of No Light is technical, gothic, and maybe has a weird spiritual message. I'm not sure about the last one...I have avoided trying to figure out what, precisely, the message is. Let's hope that it is completely wholesome. The lyrics are, fortunately, difficult to understand.
I knew that I was going to like this album almost immediately. There's a lovely, intricate piano intro...then the whole band begins to tick and keep time like a clock. It's tense and exhilarating. The drums do a lot of work--pay attention to those. Then, finally, we get catharsis at the beginning of the second track. A tumult of energy erupts, and the album is on its way.
Vocals on this album are a mixed bag, but I grew fonder of them over time. I will never be the sort of person who likes spoken word tracks. "A Bridge Ablaze" has wonderful atmosphere, but the guy whispering on top of it is a buzzkill. I preferred the guy who sounds like he has strep throat in "Rays With Razors."
My favorite track, "A Paradigm of Beauty," has a terrific vocal performance. The track reminds me irresistably of "Blind Love" by the Swans. It's repetitive, has lots of intervals of silence, and the vocalist sounds like he is losing his mind. After some incomprehensible spoken word stuff to open, he tears into it around the three-minute mark. The chorus doesn't sound like metal at all...more like punk. It's messy and grimy.
The last track is sort of an echo of the first...lots of tension, lots of atmosphere. This time, it's more stripped back, but the drumming still gives it great vitality. It ends with big swooning ambient drone that gradually reaches a crescendo and overpowers everything else, including the spoken word stuff that just won't go away.
Great album. Highly recommended.
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