Suis La Lune

Riala

Written by: PP on 18/07/2012 05:03:06

Suis La Lune first caught my attention during their support slot on Pianos Become The Teeth's European tour last year, where they felt like the perfect match to the anguished, desperation-driven original screamo soundscapes of Pianos Become The Teeth. It was curious because they had developed a very similar-sounding expression all on their own in the midst of Stockholm, Sweden, with no connection to the rest of the 'wave' bands on the other side of the pond. Their live show was fierce and explosive, emotional and passionate, all at the same time, so to find that their sophomore full length "Riala" to be a fine addition to the coarsely screamed, post-rock driven revival on original screamo is no surprise.

It is essentially a tribute to bands like Saetia, Envy, and of course our local Scandinavians in Kaospilot. The duo of quiet/loud and calm/chaos dynamics are used extensively here, with chaotic screamo sections leading into soft lulls of progressive instrumentation and post-rock inspired light guitars, sections which can best be described as melodic and beautiful. On their opposing side, lo-fi, passionate, intense screamo/hardcore vocals/instrumentation provide a great contrast between the ugly and the beautiful, the soft and the strong, but perhaps more importantly, provide the climaxing points of instrumental explosion that you've come to hear on albums by Pianos Become The Teeth, The Saddest Landscape, Sed Non Satiata and many others referencing the original screamo movement of the 90s.

My only qualms about the release is that it may be a little too lo-fi and unpolished to make a similar impact as "The Lack Long After" by Pianos or either of the La Dispute or Touché Amoré releases. It's sometimes difficult to hear the vocalist in between the ringing melodies and busily scaling guitars. "The Lack Long After" proved that such an approach is absolutely necessary to gain the intensely passionate emotional howl for the vocalist, but here, Suis La Lune have left "Riala" feeling a little too amateurishly produced to achieve similar impact. Still, you just can't argue against the musical beauty in songs like "Cornea" and "Hands Are For Helping": this is underground music at its finest, and rest be assured, "Riala" ensures that Suis La Lune will be thought of as a cult band in Sweden five or six years from now, maybe even internationally thanks to Topshelf Records.

Download: Cornea, Hands Are For Helping
For the fans of: Pianos Become The Teeth, The Saddest Landscape, Sed Non Satiata, Kaospilot,
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 22.05.2012
Topshelf Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.