“And now the presence of eyes has broken my dreams, I fall from peace on broken wings.”
Manchester unit Guilt Trip were once upon a time one of the most exciting prospects in the UK scene, breaking out with their debut full-length, River of Lies. Raging with its two-step beats, fierce vocal hooks and thrashy riffs, tracks such as “Thin Ice” and “River of Lies” saw many buy into what Guilt Trip had to offer. Follow-up EP Rain City put this to challenge; obtuse production and inconsistent songwriting that lacked the hooks of previous material caused some to doubt the future of the group’s sound.
Two years on, Guilt Trip now return with their sophomore full-length, Severance, which calls in a roster of features including Mike Duce (Lower Than Atlantis), Florent Salfati (LANDMVRKS), Alex Taylor (Malevolence), and James Tippett (Rough Justice). There is an out-of-the-gates attitude as it opens on “Fallen at My Feet“, throwing in riffs aplenty and a nice breakdown call out of “You’ve been slipping away through the sands of time, now you can kiss it goodbye” that harken back to the earlier era of Guilt Trip.
“Surrounded by Pain” and “Eyes Wide Shut” is where Severance begins to get stuck in the mire. This is especially the case with the former, which spends a good third of its duration rehashing the same style of breakdown/bridge that drains any force it would have had. There is thankfully more substance to “Eyes Wide Shut“; a flurry of kicks, fills and guitar solos perk the ear up, closing out on a somewhat satisfying breakdown.
“Sweet Dreams” follows in the same pattern, throwing in some chugs and pitched chords for good measure at the start. The feature of Florent Salfati comes across rather lacklustre, and something loaded with more venom could have been better here. A short interlude complied of some pleasant guitar chords leads into the second half of Severance, and as it hits “Broken Wings” it does begin to get going.
The opening stretch has the fury that was seen on “Fallen at My Feet” and on moments on “Eyes Wide Shut“, rapid kicks and a snare that pops gives more impact to the track. The big vocal hook first comes in with anthemic cleans (“Swallow me whole, erase my pain, I’m not the same, on broken wings I fell from grace“) before being barked by vocalist Jay Valentine. The tension built up here bursts into a breakdown, giving it proper oompf despite being not too dissimilar from others on the record.
Severance‘s second half continues to impress on “The Gates“, with punchy guitars leading into a standout feature from James Tippett. “I will not be broken again” opens a chunky breakdown, and the second vocal feature from Alex Taylor adds an extra ounce of weight to the brutal track. Another feature comes in the form of a nice vocal hook from Mike Duce on “Sanctified“: “Alone but I’m better off that way, I live alone inside my head.” Reception to this will likely be mixed, but the contribution does lend a nice nostalgic tinge.
On “Hell Will Replace the Rain“, the quartet do a top job of building up energy for the title track. Baritone guitar licks and lamenting modal vocals (“I’m digging up my own grave, I’m carving my own stone“) open it up, before the addition of tensed guitar eventually explodes out in chuggier riffs. The forward momentum it builds finds its pay-off meaningfully, as the titular yell “S-s-severence” hits into a two-step that is soon followed by one of their biggest breakdowns. Guilt Trip are going out swinging if anything. The twist at the end of Severance is the acoustic-guitar musings of “Dusk“. As a track, it’s fine and does neatly wrap-up the album, yet it’s difficult not to feel unsure who this is for.
There are certainly enjoyable cuts on Severance; the aforementioned title track, “Broken Wings” and “The Gates” all see Guilt Trip back at it. Further refinement, especially on some of the track lengths early on, would benefit any future Guilt Trip record, as it does yearn for the 20-minute runtime of River of Lies. If they can continue to produce and put together more tracks like the second half of Severance, the Manchester unit could become a force to be reckoned with.
6/10
Severance is out September 22nd via MLVLTD, and can be pre-ordered here.