Review Summary: Never deviating from a mission to crystallize the essence of existential anxiety and madness, Still_Bloom get bloody close to doing so.
For those who don’t know this already, there’s something seriously ***ed up in the water in Illinois. As a result, the region has been churning out bands in and outside of the Chicago area such as Rooks, Sworn In, VCTMS, and Yüth Forever (formerly Villains) who have been carrying a very particular torch in metal for some years now. Fueled almost single-handedly by a desire to be as brutal and anxiety-inducing as possible, this motley collective has been quietly putting out some of the best, albeit criminally under-rated, records in groove-centric metalcore (to use a long-denigrated genre label) ever written.
Among the aforementioned, Yüth Forever have been a personal favourite of mine ever since their sophomore record “Freudian Slip” was released in 2014. But, just as soon as they released their follow-up record “Skeleton Youth Forever”, an excellent record in its own right, the band announced an indefinite hiatus. For fans like myself, this created a lacuna in the Illinois metal community. As it turned out, though, it would be a new Texas outfit, Still_Bloom, which would rise to fill it.
Still_Bloom’s debut record, “Downer_”, is one hell of an homage. It wears its purpose entirely on its sleeve, never deviating from its mission to crystallize the essence of existential anxiety and madness. I have to say, it gets bloody close to doing so.
Frankly, little more can be said by way of track-by-track analysis. Some listeners will no doubt take this as a point of criticism. So let it be said that, if you are expecting an exercise in diverse musical ambitions, this is not the record for you. If, however, you are interested in sinking into the skin-crawling niche of metal that has carried Still_Bloom’s brethren in Illinois so far, “Downer_” is a perfect microcosm. This record is, indeed, so worthy of repeated listens precisely because of the richness of its many subtle, detail-oriented plays on a homogenous, depressive emotional substrate.
Oh, and the vocals are ***ing sick.
Listen to the record here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUI22LPQZw0
Visit the band’s bandcamp page here:
https://chugcore.bandcamp.com/album/downer
Browse merch here:
http://chugstore.com/collections/1620924-still_bloom
