UK foursome HIRAETH is, from what I understand, a fairly new band on the scene, and it looks like this is a band that was actually started in 2015. If that is the case they have been rather busy to get going though, as they released their debut 4 track EP “The World Ends With You” this fall.
In the growing jungle of music genres out there, this is a band that describes themselves as melodic hardcore. For those keeping track of the tens of thousands of genres out there this will probably reveal much more than for a middle aged guy who lost interest in the genre chaos many years ago, so my take is perhaps a bit different than what the band as well as fans of this sub-genre of music may be accustomed to.
Personally I regard this as a band exploring a style of music bands such as Nuclear Assault laid down the foundations for a few decades back, by combining facets from hardcore (or punk if you like) with thrash metal. In this case the main element from the former comes in the guise of aggressive vocals that hoarsely shout out the lyrics, while the latter basically cover everything else. Hammering intense drums, massive riff barrages and somewhere interwoven in the landscape there’s a bass guitar in full, booming drive as well.
What Hiraeth adds to this formula are extensive use of melodic overlays, by ways of light toned textures on top adding a slight feel of post rock to the proceedings, or by way of careful melodic resonances from the riffs themselves. In addition there’s a slightly edgy feel to the guitar riffs, giving these compositions somewhat of an indie or alternative vibe. On opening track Words to Echo these elements are paired of with gentler sequences with a more defined post rock feel to them, delicate sections offset by the aggressive vocals, and later on we’re also shown that the vocalist can deliver a more regular, melodic lead vocal style in a chorus section with a generally stronger emphasis on melody and harmony. Further flavoring the proceedings is the occasional use of a vocal style more closely aligned to the growls often used in what is dubbed extreme metal these days.
This is a tight and intense debut EP, where the tracks gets increasingly more intense in style and execution following the somewhat gentler opening track, and personally I find the band to be more convincing when they focus on the more intense and aggressive aspects of their style, with concluding track Walkers as my personal highlight. Those who tend to be fascinated by bands blending hardcore and thrash metal comes across as a key audience for this band in my book, and then especially those who find the contrast between intense but melodic instrumentation and rough, aggressive shouted vocals to be generally fascinating.
My rating: 75/100
