The Pitch: Lansdale, Pennsylvania's purveyers of post-hardcore The Drowned God return with one hell of a debut full length album.
What I Like: The band continues to bring that dark, ominous atmosphere that strikes me as different from many of the other popular bands in the genre. Touche Amore come to mind, though Moonbearer still feels much more bleak and despairing. The vocals are pure emotion delivered directly from heart to vocal chords with little intervention in between. The results are filled with coniviction even when the lyrics are pessimistic. The guitars and bass do much to contribute to the somber mood, but not without their own ability to drift and float weightlessly at times with a certain beauty; especially on more ethereal moments like "Tomorrow Your Chest Cavity Will Be Alone." The counterbalancing of the heavier vocals and drums with the post-rock/post-metal riffs at times even reminds me of the softer moments of Poison The Well's You Come Before You.
What I Don't Like: Very little. I'd still like to hear a little bit more adventurousness and experimentation, but this is probably the best album I have heard in this style in the past year.
The Verdict: A balancing act of ethereal, dreamlike beauty and the harsh realities of the world. It's like a post-hardcore counterpart to the much heavier Dreamless by Fallujah.
Flight's Fav's: Wayworn, I'll Catch The Back Of Her Head, Darkness Comes Early Down Here