Review Summary: Sadgasm
Hangman’s Chair has had an intriguing evolution over their last two decades of activity. Their musical components have gradually shifted over time as the grungy-sludge roots have given way to dalliances with traditional doom and goth-informed doomgaze, all while hanging onto a gloomy outlook and consistently glacial pacing. Their seventh album, Saddiction, is as heavy-handed at this title implies and further finetunes the developments brought on by 2018’s Banlieue Triste and 2022’s A Loner, really honing in on those ‘what if Pallbearer listened to an unholy amount of The Cure?’ vibes.
But while the overall package is right in line with what the band has done before, there do seem to be subtle changes to make the formula a little easier to get a feel for. On top of song lengths and the overall runtime getting trimmed, the mix sees some considerable polish with the vocals brought forward a bit more while maintaining the shoegaze wall of sound with crystalline guitars and booming drums. It also has an amusing side effect where the layers and cadences can oddly remind me of something like Def Leppard’s Pyromania in spots, just low key bracing myself for when they break out a doomgaze cover of “Too Late For Love” or some ***.
The songwriting may not yield too many instant earworms but the focus on airy textures with better defined vocal lines does make for some pleasant listening. Once “To Know The Night” sets the stage for subsequent numbers to follow with fluctuating dynamics and somber vocals, “The Worst Is Yet To Come” is almost bouncy by the band’s standards with a more direct structure and upbeat drums. Tracks like “In Disguise” and “Neglect” relish in ethereal layers, the effects encouraging a sense of weightlessness even with those arresting beats, while “Kowloon Lights” and “2AM Thoughts” sound bright even in the midst of brooding trudge.
I must admit that Hangman’s Chair has been a bit of an ‘almost there’ band for me, but Saddiction might be their most cohesive showing yet. The group has shown improvement as incrementally as their musical trajectory with A Loner having set a solid standard, allowing this album to make even better gains on its evocative style. While the more direct approach leads me to wish that the songwriting had been more outwardly catchy, it still raises the possibility that the next installment could finetune it that much more. It’s been a long climb to this point but that also means anybody new to Hangman’s Chair would do well in acquainting themselves here.
