Old Gray
Everything I Let Go & The Things I Refuse To


4.0
excellent

Review

by InfamousGrouse USER (3 Reviews)
January 16th, 2013 | 38 replies


Release Date: 2012 | Tracklist

Review Summary: If Old Gray continues to mature at their seemingly alarming rate, they very well could leave an indelible mark on the flourishing US emo scene.

There’s an unquestionable anomaly about New Hampshire emo trio Old Gray: they belie their years. Indeed, for an unsuspecting listener (I, admittedly, part of this segment) to stumble across Everything I Let Go & The Things I Refuse To, you would be flabbergasted to learn that less than a mere eighteen months ago Old Gray were releasing their demo. And yet, hearing the heavy reverberated guitar melodies, sombre piano harmonies, gentle percussion and narrated introspection on lost love of ‘359 Pine’ for the first time, there’s a good chance you’d have to look twice that a band in their infantile state could be as musically accomplished as this. The guitar bends impeccably compliment the lyricist as he etches across sentiments of reminiscence and heartbreak (‘Sifting through tarnished images of a past you were a part of, mind blanketed by memories/The ghost of your former self, someone I once held and time stood still/Time stood still, at least to us/At least to us’).

The introduction to this extended play serves as only a precipice, controlled and precise. The band push over the edge on the next track ‘Resonance’, a much louder, unrestrained affair than its predecessor complete with a combination of harsh screams and coarse cleans, voices occasionally coupled together; and a noise-build towards the end that feels like an abridged version of something from a proficient post-rock record, reaching its crescendo as the vocalist repeatedly wails ‘I’m so tired of dying each night’ over wave after wave of distorted guitar and increasingly loud, galloping drums. ‘Winter ‘11’, deals with feelings of isolation, disconnection and the distinct need to change. From its relentless opening shrieks of ‘Every day is the same charade/Weary ghosts frequenting their favorite haunts/We're all tired but no one ever moves’ to its unembellished spoken mid-section to its climactic collaborated yell of ‘Today I am what I never was, I am truly alone/Tomorrow I'll be what I wish I were today, I won't be afraid anymore’, the song is the most intense and scarily relatable track on the EP. Structurally, closer ‘Six Years’ remains similar to 'Resonance’ with its almost post-rock tendencies. Its introductory existentialist sound-clip (summary: there’s nothing for you after death) intertwined with creeping feedback denotes a feeling of dread, and then the track erupts into life; featuring their heavy/quiet shifts in dynamics, pained squeals, self-examining lyricism and penchant for hard-hitting crescendos.

The bottom line on Everything I Let Go & The Things I Refuse To is that if Old Gray continues to mature at their seemingly alarming rate, then it is not unimaginable to say that, in four or five years time, they very well could have left an indelible mark on the flourishing US emo scene.


user ratings (78)
3.6
great

Comments:Add a Comment 
InfamousGrouse
January 16th 2013


4378 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Stream/nameyourprice download here: http://oldgray.bandcamp.com/album/everything-i-let-go-the-things-i-refuse-to



Submitted by demigod93 as part of WeepingBanana's Review A Random Album Game: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?listid=115738



advice/constructive crit welcome

dimsim3478
January 16th 2013


8987 Comments


Italics are coded with square brackets ([ ]).

Very, very nice review. Your flow and wording are just fantastic. Good length for an EP too, but maybe split your review into paragraphs.

InfamousGrouse
January 16th 2013


4378 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Thanks for the compliments, still getting used to the coding! Fixed now.

Atari
Staff Reviewer
January 16th 2013


28008 Comments


nice job man. pos

i agree with maybe splitting into paragraphs but it's well written and flows well

Adabelle
January 16th 2013


4425 Comments


Pos. This was one of the things that I was already interested in, will check out at some point

Atari
Staff Reviewer
January 16th 2013


28008 Comments


yes! looks much better now

InfamousGrouse
January 16th 2013


4378 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Thanks guys. I think you'd dig this Adabelle based on yr pie chart.

InfamousGrouse
January 16th 2013


4378 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

What do you propose I should change it to, Hep Kat?

Atari
Staff Reviewer
January 16th 2013


28008 Comments


i don't see what's wrong with that line

dimsim3478
January 16th 2013


8987 Comments


...does the US not have a flourishing emo scene?

Curse.
January 16th 2013


8079 Comments


I'M OLD GRAYYYYYYYYYYYG

InfamousGrouse
January 16th 2013


4378 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

In comparison to here, over the pond, definitely

XingKing
January 16th 2013


16198 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

This is a fantastic EP and I had no idea it wasn't reviewed yet.



"...does the US not have a flourishing emo scene?"



Not compared to Europe

InfamousGrouse
January 16th 2013


4378 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Maybe Hep Kat, the volume of reviews coming through the website and attention they receive makes me think otherwise

XingKing
January 16th 2013


16198 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Nah. Emo/screamo is going strong right now and post 2000 emo is best emo.

Curse.
January 16th 2013


8079 Comments


Butbutbut Off Minor is post-2000

XingKing
January 16th 2013


16198 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Aside from a few bands here and there, most of skramz's most acclaimed albums are post-2000

Curse.
January 16th 2013


8079 Comments


It doesn't matter if the seeds were sown in the 90s, because Some Blood wasn't released until 2008

XingKing
January 16th 2013


16198 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

"xingking youve clearly been brainwashed by sputnik "



I just like a different sound. I prefer the post rock influenced type of screamo to the harsh and dissonant style found 15 years ago.

Atari
Staff Reviewer
January 16th 2013


28008 Comments


i've heard good emo recently. trebor reviews great new emo all the time.



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