ALBUM REVIEW: Eunoia – envy

Eunoia (n): from Ancient Greek εὔνοια, meaning “goodwill” or literally “beautiful thinking”.

It’s a fitting title for Japanese legends ENVY‘s tenth release, given its themes of searching for hope and inspiration in daily life despite a latent sense of powerlessness in today’s increasingly divided world. Reprising their screamo roots, it dwells both in the past and looks toward the future with new members injecting fresh ideas from Japan’s burgeoning post hardcore scene – that ENVY have inhabited these last three decades – alongside gorgeous post rock and electronic tinges to create a turbulent but ultimately hopeful listen. 

Opener Piecemeal is unassuming, quiet guitar and spoken word, setting the scene for Imagination and Creation, the first track proper. It quickly bursts in frantic post hardcore, vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa flitting between rapid spoken word and screams. It’s a towering statement of intent, with blastbeats, cascading tom fills and washes of serene post rock riffs on guitars, encapsulating the band’s idiosyncratic sound in under four minutes. It’s testament to their songcraft that with so many varying elements, everything flows naturally between moments.  Beyond the Raindrops is a particular highlight, with its groove in halftime and Fukugawa’s confessional lyrics a masterclass in emotional storytelling and musicianship. 

With a pronounced use of minor keys throughout the album – as is ENVY’s stock in trade – it’d be natural to expect a forlorn, morose album and while those moods are present. Eunoia lives up to its name with rays of hope shining through the clouds like sunbeams, particularly Whiteout that opens with a battering drum solo before unveiling frantic, stabbing guitars, sounding much like the ENVY of old. As the song continues, though, it swaps abruptly for a far more shoegaze-influenced direction with a gorgeous, DEAFHEAVEN-esque crescendo that sees those sunbeams filtering through amidst a rush of spoken word.

If anything though, it’s closer January’s Dusk that best shows Eunoia’s hopefulness, its use of reverb-drenched guitars, hazy shoegaze and breathless, introspective poetry from Fukagawa creating a soft, but no less arresting finale to the album that leaves no room for doubt that ENVY have achieved what they set out to do. They have created a work that acknowledges the ills of the modern world but refuses to be cowed by them, instead finding moments of calm and beauty to keep hope alive. After three-plus decades, ENVY once again reaffirm their legendary status not only in Japan’s music scene, but in post-hardcore as a whole. 

Rating: 8/10

Eunoia is set for release on 11th October via Pelagic Records. 

Follow ENVY on Facebook.