Heart Of A Coward is a band that I don't have that much experience with. The only reason I know that this band exists is because the original singer of Sylosis, Jamie Graham, left that band a few years ago in order to focus on this style of music. After listening to HOAC's first album, "Hope & Hindrance," it's easy to tell why: both this band and Sylosis are metal, but there couldn't be a bigger distance between the two. Whereas Sylosis focuses on the melodic death-genre of metal (with quite a few thrash, metalcore, and even doom metal influences), HOAC is a more "current-sounding" style band, with a lot of groovy djent elements to their sound.
"Hope & Hindrance," their first album, was good, but it wasn't necessarily great. I loved elements from it, but I wasn't totally enthralled by it like I was with Graham's two Sylosis albums, "Conclusion Of An Age" and "The Supreme Opressor." Some tracks like "Shade" had be bumping my foot for hours after hearing, but it seemed like the band was trying to be too "djenty" without fully embracing a sound of their own.
Hopefully they've managed to turn it around for their new album, "Severance"...
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1.) "Monstro"
"Severance" starts out with a bang with "Monstro." The down-turned guitar is very prominent, and sounds MUCH more crisp and clear than it did on their last album. Clearly, this is still a djent band, and their cementing themselves fully into that corner. However, one of the big things that kept me from fully embracing their last album was the production, and the production on this song alone is outstanding. This is a great album opener, fully of the groove and ambient guitar parts you'd expect from a djent band.
2.) "Prey"
The quality production carries on to "Prey," which offers a more straightforward metal sound while still retaining the djent elements. This is a great track, full of groovy bridges in between Graham's screamed verses and clean choruses. This is a track that's almost impossible not to nod along to. Guitarists Carl Ayers and Steve Haycock do a really good job of establishing a soundscape with their guitars throughout this track, instantly being able to split apart and balance the heavy groove with the dark ambient tones that make this more than just a metal song.
3.) "Distance"
This song immediately carries on from the end of "Prey," and delves into a brief melodic intro similar to something the Deftones would do, into an aggressive and passionate screaming performance by Jamie Graham, who delivers his best vocal performance to date. His singing voice has really matured from his days with Sylosis into (yet another Deftones comparison) a croon similar to Chino Moreno. The melodic style the band embraces on this track really works, especially when compared to the aggressive parts of the song, and the breakdown during the final ~35 seconds of the song is insane.
4.) "Nauseam"
"Nauseam" was the first single that the band released from this album, and I've actually been listening to it for the past couple of months. This was the track that got me incredibly excited for this album, as it's everything I could ask for: heavily aggressive and full of groovy metal riffs, yet also melodic and balanced in its own way. "Nauseam" has a few great hooks throughout it's 3:30 running time, and the entire band is in-sync. Even bassist Vishal Khetia and drummer Christopher Manbridge get to showcase their rhythm section throughout the track, particularly through the more rhythmic, groove-inspired sections of the song. If you want a good example of what to expect from the album, pick up this track in some way or give it a listen.
5.) "Deadweight"
Mansbridge gets "Deadweight" off of the ground with some absolutely killer double bass attacks, which really run throughout the entire duration of the song. "Deadweight" features some of the absolutely best heavy groove riffing I've ever heard, and even while the tempo of the song changes multiple times, it always retains a hardcore-level of aggression. If I had to pick an early favorite for the album based off of a first listen, I'd choose this one.
6.) "Eclipsed"
The first minute or so of this track is creepy guitar instrumental that helps set a tone, and it builds up to some awesome rhythm parts before leading into a shortened ambient track. Khetia and Mansbridge really help build up the tone of this track, while Ayers and Haycock build around it. It's not a particularly interesting track, but it fits the album well.
7.) "Psychophant"
This track immediately kicks off with some aggressive groove, and after the buildup that was "Eclipsed" it's a well-built momentum. This track really carries itself on that groove, which features the entire band prominently. Ayers and Haycock trade off in some pretty awesome ways, while Khetia and Mansbridge really prove themselves as the base of the entire band's sound. Even Graham gets to showcase some particularly heavy vocals during this track, as there's no real melody to this song: it's an all-out bruiser.
8.) "Mirrors"
"Mirrors" starts off in an ambient groove, which quickly continues on into an all-around groove. The guitar sound on this track is particularly bass-like, but it works really well for the song. "Mirrors" reminds me of something off of their first album, "Hope & Hindrance," and Graham's vocals sound similar to some of Sylosis' earlier tracks. Graham is really the standout of this track, balancing his guttural screams and eerie, ambient cleans in interesting ways.
9.) "Desensitize"
This track really carries itself like a hardcore track, and I can even imagine myself two-stepping along to this track. The sound on this track isn't a far distance from the rest of the album, but it carries more similarities to hardcore and punk than djent. Graham sounds incredibly youthful on this track, his vocals really carrying it.
10.) "Severance"
Just like with my previous Trivium album review, I'm incredibly curious how HOAC will end the album. The track "Severance" isn't a far cry at all from the rest of the album up until this point, carrying the same vibe that they've established throughout the album's duration: groovy guitar attack, heavy rhythm section, and ambient noises to match Graham's vocal prowess. "Severance" doesn't try and reinvent the wheel to send you off with a bang, instead it really tries to nail home the sound that HOAC have created. However, it might be the best cut that the album has to offer, nailing the transition from heavy to melodic INCREDIBLY well. Graham's vocals and the melodic guitar work great together, especially as the song builds up.
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All in all, was "Severance" an album that will change music? No, very few albums can say that. Did it even necessarily make me a fan of the djent genre? That remains to be seen.
Heart Of A Coward is a band that I was wary to like, after becoming such a huge Sylosis fanboy, but I thoroughly enjoyed this album. Like I stated previously, I was iffy on HOAC's first album, but this one really cemented it for me. The band clearly knows who they want to be, and they're not trying to change music history to do so.
Heart Of A Coward isn't just a simple djent-influenced band, they are a band that is more likely labelled "djent" because of their style: heavy ass grooves, with a lot of melody. To me, the band does the "djent" style better than the heavyweights of the genre (bands like Periphery, etc.), as they actually create songs with structure that work well within the confines of themselves.
With "Severance," Heart Of A Coward have established a great album. Jamie Graham doesn't need to do much else to establish himself as a good metal vocalists, but guitarists Carl Ayers and Steve Haycock really make a name for themselves on this album. The soundscapes they create with groovy riffs and ambient tones (two phrases that I realize I've used multiple times throughout this review) are amazing. Unfortunately, drummer Christopher Mansbridge and bassist Vishal Khetia don't get too many standout moments of their own, but they do incredibly well with what they have.
A good album.
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