Despite all the freneticism and confrontation you’d expect from a post-hardcore band ten years into their career, when listening to Stage Four, you get the impression that every note has been considered and executed in detail. Touché Amoré have always been controlled in the way they compose themselves. But rather than sounding stifled against Blom’s delivery, this serves as a counterpoint to the weighty narrative of the album and ends up balancing, rather than upending it.
Here, more overtly melodic elements prevail as Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt’s guitars interweave and lift the tracks firmly into the major key. Stage Four also sees Touché Amoré engaging in an tonal shift as the songs “Rapture” and “Softer Spoken” move away from the typical balls-to-the-wall approach to west coast hardcore displayed on previous albums Is Survived By and To the Beat of a Dead Horse. It’s clear that Blom has battled with some serious demons during this albums conception as lines like “But now I understand just what a fool I’ve been / No matter what the context I won’t have that time again” are delivered, reflecting on the themes of loss and regret that permeate the album’s eleven tracks. Leading in with a surprisingly delicate Mogwai-esque intro, the track soon explodes into view with an onrush of muscular guitar and Blom’s distinctively gruff vocals. This an album best tackled head-on, much in the same way Touché Amoré deal with the subject matter themselves.Īnd it doesn’t get more up-front than opener “Flowers And You”. With this in mind, it’s tempting to approach Stage Four with a tentative step, but to do so misses the point. Stage Four is a fitting title, given the fact that this is the Burbank, CA outfit’s fourth album, but it also resonates with a potent dualism as it refers to the cancer diagnosis faced by the mother of vocalist Jeremy Blom, which tragically led to her passing in 2014.
0 kommentar(er)
