A Hope For Home - In Abstraction

One of my big musical fears is when a band releases their follow-up to an album that had large critical acclaim and is one of my favorite records. When a band releases a masterpiece, fans (I) expect another masterpiece.

A Hope For Home's Realis is an amazing record. Every song on Realis was great and the album has a larger then life quality about. It's a sonically impressive record full of great dynamics. Loved it. So naturally I was a little worried about In Abstraction. How could A Hope for Home deliver a record that was even half as good as Realis?

With In Abstraction A Hope For Home made sure to not try and release a new version of Realis. Instead they have delivered a record that captures the heart that made Realis so good without returning to that sound. A Hope For Home continues their musical growth and evolution.

In Abstraction doesn't waste any time as Calm kicks right into the post hardcore A Hope for Home fans are familiar with but at over eight minutes long it doesn't take long for the song to move in different directions. Calm goes from post hardcore to a killer post rock song. Where Realis had a nice large sound and had a rich lush production, In Abstraction losses some of that lushness but has an epic quality that Realis didn't have. With the average song length being 7 minutes, it's easy for tracks to get boring but A Hope For Home have created enough space and give the listener enough dynamics and changes within the music that nothing is ever boring and the album is constantly shifting and moving in different directions that create a great listening experience.

The first two tracks feel like A Hope for Home but with a more post rock bent. Firewind and Weaves are real spacey and ambient tracks. Tides is an epic, slow building crescendo, while The House Where You Were Born is about as straight forward a rock song as one will get from A Hope for Home. Everything That Rises Must Converge is a super epic post rock track.

In Abstraction is amazing. A Hope for Home haven't outdone what they accomplished on Realis but reinvented, changed, and built upon everything good the band has done so far. A Hope for Home is one of those bands that doesn't disappoint and In Abstraction is a stellar record.

The Meltdown 57

Looking to spice up the Christmas music in your life? Well the Meltdown is here to help. Merry Christmas!

In the Midst of Lions - Shadows

In the Midst of Lions surprised me with The Heart of Man. And by surprised I mean I was surprised that I liked the album. Deathcore hasn't always found favor in my book but The Heart of Man just worked for me.

The band's new album, Shadows, is heavier, better, but doesn't connect the same with me. Musically I think Shadows is on point, but it doesn't have the same heart as The Heart of Man (no pun intended).

False Idols and the Call are the two best tracks on Shadows and they are the two tracks that kick off the album. The problem with Shadows is there isn't a lot of diversity between the songs and I feel like I'm listening to the same song over and over again.

Is Shadows a good record, yes. In the Midst of Lions delivered a heavy hitting album. But the songs just don't work for me the same way The Heart of Man did. Fans of the band will probably love this album.

O'Brother - Garden Widow

To be honest when I saw the cover art for Garden Widow, I just assumed O'Brother was going to sound something along the lines of mewithoutYou's It's All Crazy. Boy was I wrong. Thank goodness I was wrong.

Garden Widow is a fantastic post punk album that warms my little DC heart. It's the perfect balance of punk fury and passion with that hint of indie rock melody that made bands like Fugazi so great. The feedback and fuzzed out bass that kick of Malum had me paying attention right away. Malum is a build into Lo. Lo is a full on driving assault that reminds me Queens of the Stone Age. Sputnik is a slow, groovy track that will have you swaying and banging. Poison isn't my favorite song on the album. A real indie rock jam that's nice but just doesn't do anything for me. Lay Down keeps things low key and indie vibing but is a much stronger track then Poison.

The albums walks the line between post punk and indie rock perfectly. It's an album I downloaded on a whim and I really enjoy. Only one track that didn't work for me but the rest of Garden Widow is excellent. Great stuff from O'Brother.

Free Music Friday: Matthew Mayfield - Now You're Free

So I wasn't going to do a Black Friday edition of Free Music Friday but then I downloaded Matthew Mayfield's new album Now You're Free and I had to share. Now You're Free is a great record full of really soulful songs from a fantastic songwriter. Matthew Mayfield was the frontman for the short lived band Moses Mayfield. This isn't a record to miss.

You can download Now You're Free here: http://noisetrade.com/matthewmayfield

Eleventyseven - Sugarfist

When I first picked up Sugarfist, I had low expectations. My only other experience with the band was their debut single Myspace. It was terrible and seemed dated at the time (even though it fit with the whole emo/pop punk thing happening at the time). But Wasted was on Punk Never DIes and that song didn't suck and bands mature and grow and get better right? So why not give Sugarfist a spin?

Sugarfist is a little scattered... The first three tracks on the album are really solid musically. Wasted, Ghost, and Give It Up are great electro/pop punk upbeat songs. Maybe not anything special or new but the songs are good. But then things fall apart a bit. Silent Symphony is a weird, drum machine reggae beat driven track. It takes the electronic element to far and brings the energy way down. College Girls quickly brings the energy back up but then Quota quickly kills it. While the rest of Sugarfist is full of solid, upbeat songs, they start to run together and become one. Divers in a Hurricane is a stand out track in the later half of the record.

Lyrically Sugarfist is a little hollow but the music is fun and (mostly) upbeat. If you're looking for something fun, give it a spin.

The Meltdown 56

New music from Run Kid Run, O' Brother, In the Midst of Lions, Moving Mountains, and more.