Review Summary: Melding Screamo with Post Rock and Post Metal elements to great effect, this is one of the finest releases the UK Screamo scene has produced to date.
Following the end of the Covid lockdown period when live music began to sprout up again, Brighton based Post-Screamo five piece As Living Arrows (FKA Dead Bird) have been slowly but surely making a name for themselves in the Screamo scene. The band (featuring TTNG drummer Chris Collis on drums) have played at ArcTanGent festival and have scored support slots for the likes of Frail Body, Respire, Joliette, and Plaedies. Their sophomore album Hope and Ruin is a clear indicator of why this band is a force to be reckoned with.
Dark but melodic guitars are one of the band's defining features. Whilst clearly rooted in the Screamo genre, there's definitely elements of Post Rock and Post Metal sprinkled in as well to provide the band with a distinctive sound. The three guitars used all add something with punchy sounding chords bringing out the aggressive edge of the band whilst being accompanied by melodic lead riffs bouncing off of each other. Opening track “As Above so Below” perfectly captures everything the band does so well.
Most the songs on Hope and Ruin are somewhat lengthy with some nearly reaching the seven minute length. This could easily be a recipe for disaster if a band doesn’t know how to effectively fill this time. However, As Living Arrows manage to avoid this through having the songs take the listener on a journey - the track Altruist is a great example of this as the song ebbs and flows through various phases, starting off with slower atmospheric lead lines which build up into an explosive climax.
Most of the vocals are screamed with vocalist Thomas Wagstaff tackling most of the vocal duties and bassist Pete Fox providing some aggressive backing vocals in places. Alongside this, Wagstaff uses an almost spoken word delivery in some sections reminiscent of La Dispute but also have a bit of an Orchid vibe to them.
This is an album that truly builds off of its predecessor whilst also carving its own identity. A great indicator of why this band continue to make a name for themselves in the currently thriving Screamo scene.
