“You make it so hard to breathe”
Moodring are a band I had the pleasure of watching grow from the very beginning. With my introduction of them being the absolute killer of a debut project, Showmetherealyou, I felt like this band was almost made for me. This style of alternative metal with elements of pure shoegaze is a combination I welcome almost every time, but I could hear that there was room for growth from their first EP. Many songs on this EP like the title track and even “Gasoline” were such clear points of potential on Showmetherealyou and made it evident that Moodring have known their abilities from the moment they emerged.
Impatiently, most of us Moodring fans waited for their second project and debut album, Stargazer. Just a week after the release of Thornhill’s flawless album, Heroine, I was ecstatic to consume the new Moodring, but my standards had been raised tremendously. The singles for Stargazer flaunted a quality to Moodring that was fresh and had been a definite upgrade from the already great Showmetherealyou. While Stargazer was not the perfect album for me, and I even felt it was lackluster in some departments, I knew it was no reason to give up on Moodring. The album was still exceptional and undeniably well received. Not only was I right to stick around for their next project, but Moodring have thoroughly blown it out of the water with their sophomore EP, YOUR LIGHT FADES AWAY.
While Moodring have always had elements of a grittier style, especially on Stargazer, they were never a particularly heavy band. Screams were rarely at the forefront, even if some of their nu metal-esque riffs definitely are, but until YOUR LIGHT FADES AWAY, we hadn’t seen this group fully embrace the nu metalcore that they had the capacity to produce from their genesis as a band. Not to say ‘heavier is better’, because that’s surely not the case for many bands, but with Moodring, I must admit that it just is.
The lead single, “BLACK_WAVE”, had astonished me from my initial listen. The first second of the track genuinely jumpscared me with how abrupt and steely the riff is, but after a few breaths, things were back to smooth sailing. Moving through the first twenty seconds or so of the song, Moodring doesn’t stray too far from what they’ve done previously. However, once it gets to the unintelligible, distorted vocals, there is a distinct darker edge to this song than anything they’ve ever done. Once the first scream hits, there is no debating the separation from their comfort zone or the message they’re conveying with this cut. The chorus remains melodic as ever, cementing their incredible ability to write a hook as catchy as a pop song, and yet still have it interwoven with such a grungy, moody atmosphere. I swear there’s about three different breakdowns in this song, yet there isn’t a second where it feels gimmicky, out of place, or like they’re trying to appease any audience. This is purely a manifestation of authentic creativity. It immediately became my favorite work from them.
“WOULDYOUWAITFORME” carries the same sentiment, and if anything, I feel even stronger about it. The riffs on this cut are absolutely fucking disgusting, but in the best way possible. Beside the guitar work on this entire EP, the drums are striking, and utterly shine on this track. This song is phenomenally mixed, nothing sounds misplaced, and you can discern every piece that makes up the complete puzzle of this single. It was an interesting choice to use the intro as a teaser to the chorus with the faded vocals, especially before catapulting you into a crazy riff that will always deserve a rewind from me. Even so, the boldest choice they make on this track is the outro. It’s like Moodring is just shoving how violent they can get into our faces, and it would be deranged not to love it.
Finally, it all comes down to “SHI=DEATH”; the only non-single, and also the opener for this terribly short EP. While the other two singles are teetering on faultless, “SHI=DEATH” is perhaps my favorite of the bunch. It opens with the chorus, similarly to “WOULDYOUWAITFORME”, but the way it kicks into the first verse is brutal in comparison. The stylistic use of excessive autotune on the verses works perfectly and is something I’d like to see them implement more into their next endeavor. It’s always satisfying to see a band mixing up vocal approaches to highlight their ability to be dynamic, but something as elementary sounding as changing how they sing, or even an effect they choose to add, can make a tremendous difference. This cut is simply a combination of artistic choices that enhance the song from structured, and even ordinary, to near mastery.
YOUR LIGHT FADES AWAY will undoubtedly be a contender for many fans favorite EP of the year, but that’s only if it doesn’t get overshadowed by how short this project is. While I don’t particularly mind the length of it, I’m certainly impatient, once more, to see what else Moodring has to offer, as well as what they may experiment with on their future aspirations. Nonetheless, this EP should be more than enough to hold us over for the time being. It’s just that good.
9/10
YOUR LIGHT FADES AWAY releases on Friday 14th July through UNFD, and can be ordered here.