Review Summary: Transcending through sound.
Without saying a word, Volcanic Queen’s Zachary Lindsay has crafted something rather lyrical, laying his every conflicted emotion bare and wearing his heart on his sleeve. As candid as it unruly,
Innocence of Those Who Perished gives the impression that any event(s) that spurred its creation were similarly tumultuous. It’s also not a particularly welcoming listen. Though hooks and concrete rhythms are present, they’re flaunted one minute and stowed away the next, as if to spitefully remind you of what you’re missing. At times,
Innocence… finds more common ground with Lindsay’s noisier work as
Opiate Birth than other Volcanic Queen material; it’s very textured, but makes sure to obscure its subtleties beneath an abrasive and ubiquitous shroud of static.
“Silhouette of Rose Petals Descending” is a gleaming high-point. Though sonically harsh just like its company, the overall vibe is buoyant and climactic. Scuffed-up top layers of sound do little to smother the melodies below, as they merge together and create the illusion of a crescendo. Simple yet delicate harmonies gradually chip away at the proverbial barrier of noise, like a bug emerging from a chrysalis before taking flight for the very first time. There is an empowering sense of catharsis, but in a way it’s just like our little bug: short-lived. Being the first track with a beat from start to finish, “Letters Written to Provoke Ruin” acts as a musical pivot, giving way to an angrier, more frenetic second half of the album. Segues between songs and even movements within them are quite abrupt, disrupting the flow of the album’s narrative arc in much the same way that a sudden end to a relationship can seem to bring life itself to a grinding halt.
“Restrained Eye Contact with the Neglected” is wanton destruction personified: an explosive minute’s worth of Prurient-esque, rumbling noise that captures every ounce of our subject’s rage and directs it squarely at whatever is closest. What follows is a somewhat rapid descent into self-destruction. Every bit as reminiscent of a fleeting romantic struggle as its name would imply, “Every Severed Relationship” begins with a bout of passion – albeit in the form of Volcanic Queen’s characteristically blackened midi – before fizzling out into a drab haze of dejection and perhaps even contempt. It seems to be an attempt at an amorous “last hurrah”, trying to mend broken ties to no avail, with the album’s mood sinking to a trough thereafter.
With feelings of rage having dwindled, the penultimate track, “Carved into the bark of a Weeping Willow Tree”, is nearly mute in comparison to rest of the album, if only for the fact that it sounds utterly defeated. The static that accompanied songs prior is just about all that’s left, barely managing to obscure a faint creak as if somebody is whispering to themselves in reflection of what was never to be yet seemed so certain. As you struggle to discern exactly what it is you’re hearing, you’re almost made to feel like an eavesdropper. Perhaps the biggest peculiarity of
Innocence… is that it doesn’t try to blur the lines between its story and your own; it’s depictive as opposed to immersive, but nevertheless relatable and stirring.
