“Don’t you feel like there might be a place to escape to, somewhere for you outside?”
It’s no secret that the Aussie metal scene is thriving. Year after year, either up and coming bands are being introduced to the scene, or established greats are shaking the landscape with another stellar release. Pridelands, out of Melbourne, is a bit of column A and column B. They’ve been around for a handful of years, putting out EPs in 2015 and 2018, the latter being Any Colour You Desire, as well as a couple singles, but their debut LP, Light Bends, is releasing January 14th, and it’s about to change everything for them – not to mention the fact that it’s also going to show their contemporaries that they mean business.
The album opens with “I Reach Into Your Heart” and I think it does a lot for setting up the album. Sonically, its dynamic nature showcases just a taste of various elements that come into play throughout the track listing as a whole – moody electronics, exciting drums, cool vocal melodies, and crushing climaxes. This intro also has a narrative focus, where the setting of a dive bar is established, and an old man speaks:
“Congratulations, you’re diseased
Your flesh – impermanent and weak
To die is not to be condemned
Your body won’t remember it”
Vocalist Joshua Cory uses soothing and effective vocal melodies to somehow paint a vivid and specific picture. It’s truly skillful, and the thoughtfulness put towards the combination of lyrics, imagery and melody is utilized throughout Light Bends’ entire run time.
“The Walls” was the track that came with the band’s announcement of their signing to Resist/Sharptone Records, a huge moment in their career. I think the song is fitting for that huge announcement, though I don’t consider it a favorite on Light Bends. Joshua, and accompanying vocalist Mason Bunt dance back and forth as well on this one as they do on any track, and the instrumental arrangement is high energy, but it doesn’t etch its own space as well as other songs. There are some nice accentual riffs through the track, though they seem a little to muddled within the mix for my liking. I do have to give props to the concept of the track coming to life – “walls” are truly given an oppressive feeling and needing hurdling.
Where “The Walls” fails in etching out a unique placement for itself, “Parallel Lines” delivers tenfold instead. It has an interesting song structure which is always a plus in my book, and within the structure is a track full of dreamy riffage and pristine production. A quarter way through, the track brings the bass and drums to the forefront, before a wonderful pre-chorus and chorus that is an absolute earworm. “It’s hard to bend when we’re parallel lines” is a clever turn of phrase that encompasses what the song is all about, too. The band is super good at presenting instrumentals that are heavy, yet spacey, (which I have a soft spot for) and that is perhaps most prevalent here.
“Parted Time” is another fantastic track, albeit a more straightforward one lyrically. I think this is to its benefit though, as it brings a fresh sound and tone to the album. It’s obviously some sort of post-breakup track, but I love the ethereal riff on the intro, and I think the chorus as well as most of the verses possess equal amounts of melancholy and high energy vocally – a sad banger if you will. I do think the instrumental gets a bit derivative during the early verses, but that hardly takes away from an overall great song. The outro is worth a mention, as the guitarist Liam Fowler lays down some bouncy riffage to play the song out.
“The Lake of Twisted Limbs” accompanied the announcement of Light Bends, so the band had faith in it despite it undeniably being different for them. It’s certainly not representative of much of the album, nor their discography as a whole, but it still sounds like Pridelands, of course. I think the song works, and its placement on the album is well-considered. They lean full into the conceptual, metaphorical lyrics here, which I do largely enjoy in my music, and they’re experts at it. It paints a complete picture of a battered and bruised soul braving a literal Lake of Twisted Limbs to save someone. And I do think the instrumental arrangement fits this imagery, which is a skill I have to commend once again. Personally, my one caveat with it is that the structure to the track lends itself to not having much to latch onto. Strong clean vocal passages, ambitious song writing, and the aforementioned evidence makes it commendable, however.
“Antipathy” is another track I want to bring attention to, as it has grown on me the most. It brings in distortion as an element and uses it effectively. And I know Pridelands wants to stand out as a unique band, but as a huge Thornhill fan, I can’t help but hear a similarity here. The riffage on the verses are very much Thornhill, and Joshua sounds like Thornhill’s Jacob Charlton in parts, especially during:
“I’ve grown so selfish here
On my synthetic high
Won’t you drag me down?”
Regardless, the song is very good, being host to some of the most soothing clean passages and crushing screams, the latter accompanied by a nice distortion effect on the mix. This is especially true on the outro where the crescendo of the track sounds larger than life and is a truly stellar moment.
For “Translucent Blues” and “Evergrowth”, I don’t have too much to say, but I do love the waterfall sound effect within “Translucent Blues”, and I like how this motif extends into “Evergrowth”. If that was a conscious decision, it’s a genius once as it really works to bring the songs to life. “Evergrowth” then continues as a very poetic track that is stripped back instrumentally. The climax feels a bit underdeveloped; I think another minute of the song expanding could’ve made it a standout for sure. As it is, however, I find it just a nice change of pace and a sonically pleasing one. Other than that, these two are simply solid songs for me, but not on the same level as some of the stronger cuts found earlier on the record.
Finally, “The Sun Will Find Us”. This is a true closer; a culmination of the sounds and styles of the tracks that came before it. The narrative is developed using, frankly, dark and disturbing imagery, but it makes for a compelling track lyrically. Furthermore, the band puts out an exciting performance both instrumentally and vocally.
Pridelands have quickly ascended the list of young bands that I think can truly become special. They have ambition within their songwriting that is a rarity. And they are already masters at their craft, just one full length album in. If they stopped here, they’d have made their mark for anyone that listens to Light Bends.
Light Bends will release on January 14th, 2022 via Resist/Sharptone Records, and you can pre-order the record here. Be sure to check back with Boolin Tunes for lots of content in the new year!
8/10