“I’ll fuck on your grave.”
Using music as an escape from a shitty reality is a concept familiar to most. Sometimes getting lost in the music is better than burying yourself in the soul crushing torment. Holy Wars have always used their sound to explore the complicated emotions surrounding grief by blending alt, nu and pop styles with unapologetic lyrics. Their new album Shadow Work / Light Work is told through the perspective of vocalist Kat Leon, and her journey of confronting trauma and learning to embrace healing.
By varying the speed and style of the tracks on the album, Leon has found a way to express the complex feelings associated with pain. She conjures the personification of grief by contrasting passionate vocals against hauntingly atmospheric layers and melancholic tones. Unfortunately, the risk with putting your emotions on display in a piece of work is how the public will perceive it, particularly when everyone handles their internal suffering differently. Some may feel this LP isn’t powerful enough to express the extent of their angst.
“I Feel Everything” showcases the aggressive side of the album with a frustrated callout alongside chuggy guitar riffs. Alongside “Kill the Light”, which also incorporates bouncy drums, the upbeat melody of each song feels surprising when considering the heaviness of the lyrics. “Shadowwalker” adds another level of vehemence by utilising a 2-step beat with grittier guitars, embodying the lyric “shadows twisting inside of me”, as if an entity is trying to fight its way out of her. Tracks like “I.FO.Y.G” centres on a hypnotic melody, chanting vocals through silky whispers, slowing the song down as if it was trying to lure you in.
But as much as the album tries to pull you in fervently, the mixes felt too flat to make an impact. Instead of intentionally invoking a DIY sound, as is often the case in alternative rock, the sound feels glossy and underdeveloped. Moments that are built up to be powerful feel underwhelming when they arrive at their peak. Case in point is the closer “Metamosphosis”, whose lyrics about mourning yet accepting change are hamstrung by a complete lack of inspiration in the riffs and production. Another example is“I Feel Everything”, a track that plays with ideas of being overwhelmed by grief, but the only intense aspects of the song were the repetitive elementary phrasing and monotonous attempt at a breakdown that lost momentum before it even started. If an album is going to use a sentiment as its basis, then it needs to live up to the expected execution.
While Shadow Work / Light Work does succeed in becoming an emotional escape, it could have been produced in a way that made the songs sound more compelling. It’s as if the songs only express the emotions on a surface level, rather than diving head first into them. Occasionally it succeeds in providing a goosebump sensation due to a hypnotising vocal performance, but it does not hold up well within the mixes and songwriting ideas. A listener in Holy Wars’ focus group may find the subject more relatable than an average lay person, but this is not enough to feel blown away.
