ALBUM REVIEW: Light Bends – Pridelands
There has long been a healthy association with metalcore in Australia. It is lodged in the very fabric of the country’s heavy culture and countless bands have continued to churn out engaging, progressive ideas that have arguably kept the genre healthier there than anywhere else on earth. 2022 will see that trend given renewed life as PRIDELANDS become the next band to proudly unveil their debut album. They have been bubbling away for a while now, having released a string of promising EPs and singles dating back to 2015, and the time has finally come for them to write a longer format and more rounded record. Titled Light Bends, it lives up to expectations and makes the excruciating wait worthwhile.
As you would expect, the album is packed with energy, rattling through track after track of bone-shaking metalcore. But the good kind – uber progressive, dripping with melodicism and very well executed. The danger is that there are so many bands doing the same thing now that it can be difficult to shine (take NORTHLANE, THORNHILL, POLARIS etc as good examples), but there is little doubting PRIDELANDS’ ability to stand tall amongst such names. Their sound is carefully considered and constructed with patient precision, which ultimately translates into very well built tracks.
The majority of the album focuses on clever song structures. In tracks like The Lake Of Twisted Limbs, heaviness wages war with intricate melody. Clean vocals soar and harsh screams cut right through them, creating a feeling of deep catharsis that constantly swings somewhere between hope and despair. The track then leads into Safer Here which uses gentle piano notes to provide a canvas for ambient guitar work that gradually builds towards a heart-wrenching crescendo. Other tracks like Evergrowth and the album closer The Sun Will Find Us also benefit from similar progressive layouts, not necessarily sounding the same as each other, but finding innovative ways to stir mood and add colour. They stop the album feeling like just another collection of metalcore tracks and take it to a higher level, demonstrating the capable ability that PRIDELANDS possess when it comes to song-writing.
Some of the songs on display are simply outright ragers. The band first realised they had a winning formula when they wrote Parallel Lines, arguably the album’s standout track. It has everything you want to hear; the guitars crush and abrasive vocals howl while intriguing drum patterns create a join-the-dots ambience coloured brightly by pulsating riffs and towering choruses. It is the band’s golden goose and a culmination of everything they wanted to achieve with the album. It’s closely followed by Parted Time, which keeps the heat turned up by way of pounding drums and heavy guitar work.
Vocalist/lyricist Joshua Cory is quoted as saying “There can be no hope without despair, no love without loss,” a statement which echoes their general lyrical themes of Light Bends. Throughout the album, PRIDELANDS tackle subject matter which is not only complex and harrowing, but also close to their hearts. Whether discussing the horror of the corruption and mismanagement of the devastating bushfires that raged through Australia from 2019 to 2020, or the general state of contemporary humankind, they allow their music to shift from serenity to chaos in a heartbeat. Throw in the talented production of the revered George Lever (SLEEP TOKEN, LOATHE) and the formula is complete.
Light Bends will be cast into the wind by a band immensely proud of their achievement. Destined to be experienced on the live stage as well as living rooms, it is the album that will allow PRIDELANDS to truly stamp their mark on our musical landscape. It is a looming, unpredictable listen, and in today’s saturated marketplace, that’s a very welcoming thought.
Rating: 8/10
Light Bends is set for release on January 14th via SharpTone Records.
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