Review Summary: Gripping and as emotionally wrought as ever, It Prevails prove that they are a force to be reckoned within the melodic hardcore genre.
It Prevails return with their fourth and final studio album,
Perdition, an album that many fans of the group thought would never see the light of day. It Prevails first began showing off demos from the forthcoming album as early as 2012. Even when the time had come for the album to finally come out in January of 2015, it mostly flew under the radar due to poor promotion and a limited release only available online.
For those of you who may be new to It Prevails, they began with their 2007 debut
The inspiration, followed up by the 2009 sophmore outing
Capture and Embrace, and more recently 2011's
Stroma. The early days saw the band with a more straight foreward melodic hardcore sound (think a slowed down, more melodic Shai Hulud), and with each subsequent release have began to add more clean singing, more post-hardcore and even post-rock elements, yet without compromising the hardcore foundation of their sound.
Perdition is the band's most focused release yet. Each of the ten tracks compliment each other well and work together to form a cohesive unit. It Prevails is as fiery as ever on
Perdition while at the same time retaining a certain level of graceful poignancy the band has yet to explore. Right from the opening track it is made clear that the tone of this record is darker and more melancholy than It Prevails has ever been before. Musically the group is tight and well rounded without being overly technical or flashy. Tracks like "Fighter" and "Glimpse" are fierce slabs of hardcore while the more broody "Borrowed Time" and "Parachute" show off a different side of the band. Production wise this album is a little lacking, however I don't believe it distracts too much from the actually listening experience.
Vocalist Ian Fike gives his greatest performance yet here on
Perdition. From throaty screams to swooning, cleanly sung choruses,
Perdition has it all. As previously mentioned, the band has gradually added more and more clean singing to the usual format and this album is no exception. Ian Fike's vocals never feel forced or out of place and are as emotional and heartfelt as ever. Look no further than tracks "It Starts Today" and "Parachute" which feature some of the most impassioned vocals on the album. Whereas It Prevails has typically been seen as a shining beacon of optimism and positivity in the face of life's obstacles, on
Perdition we hear a similar story but with a much more realistic spin on it. Tracks such as "Burnt at Both Ends", "Iron Inside", and "Broken Man" are all prime examples of a more weary and unsure Ian Fike who is coming to terms with the fact that at times life isn't as easy as some people are led to believe. Other tracks such as Blanket the World and Fighter still show off the more youthful and optimistic side of the band.
There isn't much negative I can say about this album aside from the fact that it has a relatively short run time and the production isn't the best it could be, however both of these things can be bypassed when listening and enjoying the experience regardless.
Perdition is the band's crowning achievement. It's everything you'd want to hear from It Prevails or any post-hardcore band for that matter. Well thought out and as gripping and emotionally wrought as ever, It Prevails prove that they are a force to be reckoned with in the genre. All very bittersweetly of course considering that they have stated this would be their last album before ultimately calling it quits. Although I wish they would continue making music, especially if it's of this quality, I am happy that they were able to release one last swan song before letting the sun set on this chapter of thier lives.
