Review Summary: Destroying expectations.
For a band with the humble stature of Vexes, releasing a double album as a sophomore release is one
hell of a risk. Four years removed from their debut ten track offering
Ancient Geometry, this quartet hailing from New Jersey have returned with twenty-four(!) new songs which unite to create the colossal
Imagine What We Could Destroy /// If Only Given Time. Instead of attempting to carefully navigate around a potential sophomore slump, Vexes have decided to literally double-down on themselves – and quite frankly, the results are stunning.
For those unfamiliar, Vexes play a personally perfect variant of alternative metal - too cerebral and deliberate for fans of straightforward, mouth foaming barnburners and yet too fierce and caustic for those who recoil at impassioned screaming and bursts of sonic aggression. Vexes fall somewhere between
Vheissu-era Thrice and post-
Diamond Eyes Deftones on a musical spectrum, but with plenty more to offer. While not a concept album,
IWWCD///IOGT loosely explores the nearly universal struggle of maintaining genuine human connection while most of society wrestles and chokes swimming upstream against a current of pervasive social media tactics and a consciousness that continues to grow increasingly digital.
Following the brief introduction of “Digital Trust”,
IWWCD///IOGT opens with first single, “Beyond the Sinking”, which exemplifies nearly every strength of the quartet’s songwriting. After unfurling with an unsettlingly sparse verse, the riffs from guitarist John Klagholz and singer/guitarist Charlie Berezansky begin to subtly churn and grind, ratcheting up the drama over time. Just as the stress hits a fever pitch, the chorus explodes into a mix of desperate vocals and those aforementioned snarling riffs before everything comes to hushed crawl during the bridge. Suddenly, Berezansky’s tenor is nearly left alone to glide above bassist Bobby Carpenter’s low end puttering away in the background, ultimately foreshadowing an oncoming assault seconds later. “Beyond the Sinking” is the first hint to expect the unexpected over the course of
IWWCD///IOGT.
Over the course of these first three songs, frontman Charlie Berezansky’s vocals are immediately notable and seemingly contradict as they float above ever shifting dynamics and unorthodox chord progressions - his crooning is delicate, yet powerful. Smooth, yet gritty. Berezansky’s vocal work across
IWWCD///IOGT elevates these pieces to a higher level via the employment of unpredictable vocal melodies that both build tension and linger in the ear. One second, he’s serenading, the next second he’s shredding his throat.
Nowhere are these vocal acrobatics on display more than the, well, apocalyptic “E.O.T.W.”, which marries spastic, partially-screamed verses with an urgent chorus that builds and builds in intensity until the song inevitably collapses under its own emotional weight. Album centerpiece “Gather Your Bones” is an eight-minute brooding dream showcasing Berezansky’s soaring tenor floating above driving guitars, captivating listeners in the same way “Rosemary” did when Deftones fans first gave
Koi No Yokan a spin. Second single “Low Choices” alternates between angsty riffs and one of the catchiest refrains listeners are likely to hear this year when Berezansky implores,
“I only want you to know/This one thing/There’s no one here to wish you farewell/So save all your tears/And wave goodbye/They only know the worst of you”. “Low Choices” – along with “The Symptoms of Dying” and “Bleak Machine” capture a more accessible and melodic side of Vexes that could generate radio play in a just music industry.
Nearly every piece on
IWWCD///IOGT is deserving of recognition as Vexes employ songwriting trick after songwriting trick to give every song a unique voice and standout moment. “Twisting of the Points” settles on a groovy bassline by Carpenter only to conclude with a Devin Townsend-esque wall of sound. An explosion of face-melting screaming and barely controlled riffing highlights the unexpected detonation of “Inexerol”. “Energy Vampire(s)” utilizes synths in the background to create an oppressive, sinister atmosphere that make Berezansky’s tortured scream in the bridge even more convincing. Hell, the band even throws the closest thing to a ballad here at listeners in the form of “At Nothing” which features a stripped-down performance of Berezansky emoting over moody synths and light drumming. On
IWWCD///IOGT there
really is something memorable for every listener.
As one might fear, track sequencing over a 24-song release is crucial. Fortunately, Vexes have carefully and thoughtfully constructed the tracklist, not only grouping songs of different musical temperaments together to create a consistently varied listen in terms of balancing tranquility and terror, but also having the awareness to insert electronic interludes at numerous points between clusters of songs to allow listeners to catch a breath at certain moments. Furthermore, each batch of songs conclude with a pensive instrumental named after their respective half of the double album. It’s too early to determine if listeners will be able to tolerate every single intermission as they appear over the course of these two hours, but the instrumentals serve to weave the tracklist together conceptually while allowing each song to breathe without any respite overstaying their welcome.
Despite injecting more hyperbole and praise in this review than a North Korean propaganda script, one could argue
IWWCD///IOGT is a high-water mark for modern alternative metal. Simply put, Vexes are a criminally underrated group of talented musicians and songwriters firing on all cylinders. There’s so much more that could, and should, be said about the twenty-four pieces of music on offer here. Unfortunately, trying to articulate the depth, power, and emotional weight behind
IWWCD///IOGT is ultimately a fool’s errand. Thus, as Hans Christian Andersen says, “Where words fail, music speaks.” With that quote in mind, music fans should listen to what Vexes have to say across these spell-binding two hours regardless of expectations because, well, imagine what Vexes could destroy if only given time.
