Description: Review from The MonolithConnecticut’sMannersfall somewhere in the middle of this musical conundrum. Taggingthemselves as post-hardcore, indie and experimental brings with it acertain expectation. One; that this is a band that is looking to domore than just rip through their songs at break neck speed, and two;that there will quite possibly be some interesting song structuresand ideas on offer, maybe even in the vocal department. FrontmanChris‘sraw emotion and passion for his craft are evident throughout PaleBlue Light.This intensity is captured effectively on the record and no doubtlive his performance would be something to behold, but on repeatedlistens it tends to become a little one-dimensional. The promise ofexperimentation isn’t quite realised (well not vocally anyway).Whilst his delivery is spot on, and his integrity is obvious andcompliments the rest of the band, at times it feels like the songswould have benefited from some experimentation with melody, or evenjust a change in pitch for a scream or two.Fortunately,the melody and harmonies are most definitely present in the guitarlines. The tone is thick, crisp and powerful for the most part, butfloaty and hypnotic in just the right spots. “Nothingto Fear”is reminiscent of KurtBallou‘sglorious noise and, like Converge,Manners have produced some excellently crafted songs. The star of thealbum is most certainly drummer Danny.Showing both flair and maturity in his playing, his ability to writeinteresting fills/patterns/ideas sets him apart from your averagehardcore drummer. This definitely keeps things interesting, enticingthe listener to stay in the moment – just when you might feel yourattention wandering, up pops a tasty little fill or ablink-and-you’ll-miss-it blast.Standouttracks “TheSun Won’t Rise“,“Rent”and “Equinox”exemplify this perfectly – these songs stray from the traditionalhardcore pummel beat with some extremely tasty rhythms and featuresome delicious guitar riffs, but the aforementioned lack of melody inthe vocals feels like an opportunity missed; these great songs couldhave been outstanding. IanBates‘production/engineering on this album is fantastic. It’s refreshingto hear that bands still want their instruments to sound on recordlike they do live, and that engineers are still passionate incapturing that live essence when it’s become so easy to just plugin to a computer. The drums have a great natural sound and the bassis right there in the pocket with some gritty bottom end to beefeverything out. Ultimately, PaleBlue Lightis a positive step forward from 2011 debut Apparitions;a solid release for those of us looking for something lesstraditional in melodic hardcore in 2014. Let’s hope they continueto grow and experiment.
Price: 20 USD
Location: Orange, California
End Time: 2024-09-14T03:35:42.000Z
Shipping Cost: 5.38 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Artist: Manners
Format: Record
Record Label: Touch
Release Title: 2012
Color: Blue
Record Size: 12"
Material: Vinyl
Genre: Hardcore
