“Let me know what you choose when you decide.“
Caskets are a post-hardcore unit, of sorts, make their return once again on The Only Heaven You’ll Know. Firmly sticking to a two-year release cycle since their re-branding, they’ve been an act who have been in and around the scene but never really managed to fully break out. They currently peddle the post-hardcore sound that Bring Me The Horizon spawned, which has since seen many imitations, including the now popular Bad Omens. Given the high bar that both have impressively set, even with faltering moments, one would suspect that evolution rather than imitation would now seem the best fit. Yet it does seem that countless acts are taking this mantle and fading into an afterthought. Now Caskets persist on pursuing that at least tired if not outdated sound.
The ultimate and immediate issue with The Only Heaven You’ll Know is that there simply isn’t really much to latch onto. There is so much here that is simply to be expected; the cute little grooves are ever-present, with the neat synths and “Flood“‘s solid vocals just never really amount to a moment that really pulls the listener into the record. The likes of “Closure” and “Make Me a Martyr“, outside their perfectly forgettable titles, are simply just serviceable. Singing out choruses of “I’ve seen the pain cast down on you“, it is as if these moments are the record is simply refusing to do anything out of note.
As mentioned, Caskets drive at that Bad Omens, Dayseeker and Bring Me The Horizon sound that makes large use of synth work and large choruses. “The Only Heaven You’ll Know” plays fully into this, making it indistinguishable from much of what is already out there. Yes, it may have that Caskets touch to it, yet structurally and songwriting style it feels only a stone’s throw from what Bad Omens have produced in recent years. This rears its head again on “What Have I Become“, which includes joyous lyrics including “Take my scars up to the stars” as a main hook; a lofty and overwrought line that is less celestial and more confusion.
There are cuts where Caskets find their “metalcore” leanings, with “Our Remedy” being the most notable of these. Taking the casings of a standard Casket track, it draws in both Harmanis and Reade of Make Them Suffer to impressive use. Reade‘s clean vocals wrap themselves around the track as a haunting echo, with Harmanis delivering the sledgehammer blow with their ever as impressive vocals. While it does come early on, Make Them Suffer ensure that there is at least something to takeaway from The Only Heaven You’ll Know of note. Other metalcore cuttings which they touch on in the likes of “Escape” and “Save Us” amount to use of harsh vocals and breakdowns, which simply seem programmatic as much of the wider modern metalcore scene.
As the lyrics of “I wish I could take back all the hate I spent on you” are muttered over a slow beat, it occurs that these records have come to a point of exhaustion, both at large and also within themselves. It does also feel like post-hardcore has become too much of a broad church, if the likes of Caskets can still be included within it. A genre that was meant to be rooted in its opposition to trite alternative tropes, which has been demonstrated recently by the likes of Static Dress, deathdotgov and God Alone. This concept is at complete odds to The Only Heaven You’ll Know. As Dayseeker have recently showed, the results are unfulfilling, rather than the risk-taking and ever-challenging manner the genre has had over the years.
Even outside the wider realms of genre and other bands, Caskets have continued within the same safe confines they have over the past two records. There is evidently talent in the band, particularly in Flood‘s vocal ability, The Only Heaven You’ll Know never really pushes that, picking the safe choice almost ever time. Much can be proved by the impact of “Our Remedy” where Harmanis of Make Them Suffer does the heavy lifting to create the most compelling moment of the record. Once again, Caskets have missed the break-out mark they hoped to achieve; for some, this will just be the third attempt and allow for another go, whereas others will see this as the third strike.
3/10
The Only Heaven You’ll Know releases November 7th via Sharptone Records and can be pre-ordered here.