Defeater has come to be my favorite band to emerge in recent times. They are the perfect blend of energetic hardcore and the near post-rock ethos and emotionally searing vocals of skramz bands such as Envy and Saetia respectively, and even the slightest touch of blues makes an appearance. Defeater's strength relies on grabbing you by the chest; Instead of aiming straight for the throat with brutal riffs and breakdowns, they play with painfully direct emotion that grips you around each corner and mountain they crash through, and manage to create arrangements that are repeatedly so massive they could block out the entire sky. This formula has been the typeset for most recent hardcore acts, and many others like Modern Life is War amd Life Long Tragedy have great success with the format, but none of them can touch the peaks that defeater creates or the raw emotion they rip through you.
Instrumentally they rely on a lot of simple but efficient composing techniques put together very soundly. The drums are by far the most technical showing on the album, as the guitars are mainly focused on texture, power, and rhythm. Instrumental parts are often contrasted against each other; a somewhat intense, loud drumbeat will be paired with guitars that consist of nothing but calm morphing textural murmurs. The result are some interesting "experimental" bits, that don't sound experimental at all.
This is their second full length, after a phenomenal debut album and equally impressive e.p. which caused quite a stir. I'm going to give this album two different scores, as there is a clear cut divide ten tracks into the album. Track ten, White Oak Doors, builds across several minutes, until it would be impossible to create any more tension. Suddenly, it cuts to silence mid bar, literally mid word. After about a minute the 4 acoustic tracks of the album kick in. These tracks feel very odd on this album and don't feel true to any identity this album would have. Let's start with the first ten.
When Warm Blood Rush opens the album, it seems like it's just going to be an average hardcore romper, but after a few alternating verses everything opens up and the entire spectrum of possible noise seems to be filled by their giant sound. Recording engineer and guitarist of Defeater Jay Maas really shows off his expertise with the way moments like these sound throughout the album. Some other key tracks include Waves Crash, Clouds Roll, which intros with a remarkable combination of churning rhythms mashed together that feel like an undercurrent pushing and pulling against your sense balance, and No Kind of Home, where incredibly tasteful drumming cruises alongside incessant guitar riffs for a fast paced track that really shows off some of the great guitar textures this band is capable of. No Kind of Home is followed by White Knuckles, which wastes no time overloading your sense of urgency with bursting and blooming guitars. In addition to the excitingly fast paced, standard hardcore there are several huge climaxes, like the goosebump inducing ending to track 9, At Peace.
After the heavier songs on this album stop, so does the appeal. The 4 acoustic tracks are all boring and un-inspiring after the wonders that took place earlier on. None of them are particularly bad, but none of them, except possibly Brothers, really have any value on this album musically. I don't pay that much attention to lyrics- which is a shame in this case cause Defeater are known for having great lyrics and so far they have only released concept albums. It's possible that the lyrics in these songs tie together the storyline of the entire album but I will leave that for someone who pays more attention to such details to figure out. If I ever listen to these tracks again, it will be because i haven't switched em off after listening to the first tracks.
Non acoustic: 10/10
Acoustic: 5/10
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