Without Waves try out a wide array of progressive styling on Comedian to largely positive, if somewhat mixed results.
Chicago based quartet Without Waves remained largely silent since their 2017 sophomore album Lunar. Known for flowing between genres of metal, their technicality and compositions remain among the biggest draws. Comedian exists within that same space, with the band driving to demonstrate all facets of their jazzy, progressive songwriting capabilities.
Album opener “Good Grief” plays upon these expectations to show off the heavier side of the band:
A worm’s eye view into,
Your current state of mind.
A sad sign of the times,
Don’t worry, I’m just fine.
While such a curveball could be perceived as a positive, in this instance, it doesn’t play to the band’s strengths quite like other non-singles do. They sound a bit like The Safety Fire-lite in some moments, and though still technically impressive, it feels like a bait and switch in the overall schema of the album. It’s best moment arrives at a sung bridge with an unexpected black metal riff at its midpoint, after which the track slows down for a cool, smooth toned down section. The nu-metal-esque “Let me tell you right about now” refrain may prove memorable, but it doesn’t really add much other than something different for the sake thereof. Similarly, track three “The Algorithm” suffers from a similar clash of sounds, which gave me concerns about the album overall. Thankfully though, “Set & Setting” stands out with its excellent guitar work, as does the next single:
An intervention undivine,
Just in time for you to sing its praises.
Dopaminergic effects aside,
A killing time akin to life you’ve wasted.
“Sleight in Shadows” lives as a proof of concept of what the band can do in just a few minutes without falling into the trappings of some of the early mistakes. Instead, it’s pared back and focused more towards
The universal human dream,
A silent dream in the shadow’s light,
Where blue gives way to grey,
And wrong gives way to right.
“Seven” helps close the album out in much stronger fashion than it began. Vocalist Anthony Cwan sounds absolutely ethereal here, nailing some of the highest notes on the album. The swirling guitar tones and harmonics leaves this track floating on a cloud across its first four minutes. Proceeding tracks “Day 15” and “Worlds Apart” pointed towards a shift in this direction, but by this point, it’s clear that this band is at their best when leaning heavily into more standard (but still complex) progressive rock and metal. I celebrate the band for the experimentation, but even on this song, a minute-long breakdown helps provide some juxtaposition but otherwise doesn’t seem particularly necessary in the larger context of the album. It provides a microcosm for Comedian overall, which really is worth a listen for its best moments, even if they are interrupted a bit too often.
7/10
Comedian by Without Waves comes out Friday, March 18 on Prosthetic Records. You can pre-order it here.