I brought this album when it came out, but my record player broke soon after. Recently I checked up on Rivalry Records, and they've just added digital downloads, so... here we go.
When I first heard their Vancover Gold ep, I thrashed it to death. It had a lyrical honesty, intensity and ferocity that not many melodic hardcore bands pull of. Not heavy in the chuggy sense, but nothing weak about it all. Then came their debut album The Only Blood Between Us, which illustrated a musical progression and continued to develop the same sort of lyrical themes, becoming an adult, completely disillusioned with your culture.
'Every lesson learned from the moment of my birth is etched into my mind... and I want to forget. I don't want to remember'
In Histories, again preoccupied with his own personal history, vocalist Mark Palm recounts his life and failings, and much of the album is spent in the nostalgia of recollection. But this time, he's changed his tune:
'I'm uncovering. I'm sifting through. Digging up relics of the past. I'm ignoring my own advice: I'm looking back'.
Because I know and love their other work so well, Histories comes with high expectations. Which it met, but only just. It's that whole thing about a concept album, writing with an idea in your mind may satisfy the author, but for me hardcore doesn't favor such self satisfaction.
Perhaps my main criticism of Histories is that they are borrowing a little bit too much from MLIW. In previous releases, what I would consider 'shared' features, become more 'borrowed'. I mean, musically its so well developed and 'epic' so perfect in terms of production, its sounds like they are trying just that little bit too hard. But then again, the intensity is there, the song structuring, the album package, all of it working, but not quite.
The vocals still scratch through with intensity, and still carry the tones of fury and disgust, the refusal to accept the world as it is. The lyrics still are far more intelligent than much of the genre, but with Histories, its an intellect which only looks inward. In the last song Left Of Me - the album is summarized, quite beautifully:
'Our lives are subject to unseen currents, eroding, washing clean and carrying away tell-tale traces of our former selves. In my head its all rushing water, cold and surging. Ruthless and relentless in its power to erase. Yet somehow I thought I'd never change. Against the crashing tides of time. I thought I'd stay the same. Friendships and convictions, old hopes and dated dreams, all swept away by the pull of the ceaseless stream (I'm washing away.) This life like river passes through and around and I'm trying to grab a hold of something permanent. Reaching through the ebb and flow for a common thread to string these years together, to trace back to myself again. Please tell me you remember (forget me not) because I'm not who I used to be. I'm just a shadow, pale and fading. Please tell me you remember because its all receding into the background so damn fast'
I actually love the album, I just like The Only Blood Between Us better.
4/5
Wed Jun 25, 2008