Smart noise.
Old school hardcore vocals and heavy chugging riffs meet complex time signatures and excellent melodies on Misery Signals third album. Their sound has been described as mathcore, but that sloppy pigeonholing doesn’t take in to account the sweet tunes this band produces within the pounding rhythm guitar and drums. They do something much more uplifting and tuneful than the usual full on technical displays of fret-wankery that mathy solos often consist of, and in some respects, they come across as more of a post-hardcore outfit, with dissonant, quirky punk roots, (or they would if they weren’t so bloody heavy).
Their ability to blow you away with noise then take it right down to basics with just the gentle strains of the melody is one of the things that make this band so good, and this album so listenable. They very rarely do cheesy sing along moments, though ‘Ebb and Flow’ is one exception, but luckily the tune is quite a melancholy one and generally the tunes on “Controller” are always skilfully built by the guitars. Album opener, ‘Nothing’, gives an instant taste of the power on the record, the gravelly screams and heavy chugs quickly give way to the clear bright guitar tone that is a feature of their sound.
While musically the band have it sorted, lyrically, there’s not that much going on, the words are very general and slightly dreamy, with the occasional well hidden pop at the American political situation: “I have destroyed myself/This time it was all or nothing/I struck the match and turned away/Torch the fields and pray for rain”, but they never come right out with it so they could in effect appeal to any number of personal situations.
On the whole this is a great album; musically sound and with many exciting and complex moments from the guitars and some uplifting melodies. Taken separately, each component is more than adequate but not special; however, as with all good bands, they’ve constructed each track so well, that somehow the complete package feels pretty fresh and has plenty of staying power.