Review Summary: We're here now.
The people who enjoyed The Mire's Vol. II were expecting this for a long time. Point is, would the band live up to the expectations and make full use of their potential? The answer to that question is Glass Cathedrals and make no mistake, this album is a breath of fresh air to the Post Metal scene.
One of the major strong points of this band is undoubtedly the vocals, Urbino can deliver a powerful scream and beautiful clean singing. Also the fact that he stays in his comfort zone just makes the music flow perfectly, his vocals can remind you of Isis Aaron Turner in some way. Although the lyrics are dark, the singing brings a completely new dimension to the music. Nothing to add to the Bass and Drumming since they are both perfectly executed.
The guitars deliver massive walls of sound which make an amazing contrast with Urbinos melodic vocals, as shown in Trance Monolith, Triple Gemini and Pale Heart, the songs just kick off with powerful riffs and then assume their own individual progression to a either more melodic approach or a heavy sludgefest. For a Post Metal band, The Mire doesn't go for the 10 minute trips which are more common within the genre, the songs clock mostly around 5 minutes and have fairly simple structures. There are some Metalcore elements present which should be enough to please fans of Rinoa, Devil Sold His Soul or even The Ocean. Also The Mire incorporates acoustic harmonics to add that tiny detail at some points which makes the music come to a whole.
Either in brutality, melody or simply variety, Glass Cathedrals delivers. How these Brits seem to be able to produce music which doesn't rely on technical aspects or giant build-ups without compromising the quality of the overall product is utterly amazing. The band used all the elements that made their past few efforts so great and took it to a higher level.
