ALBUM REVIEW: The Future Died Yesterday – Tension Span
TENSION SPAN are a new band having got together during the lockdown period, but their music harks back to a much earlier and more fertile time when a darker style of punk was starting to take over. The band consists of vocalist Noah Landis (CHRIST ON PARADE and NEUROSIS), guitarist and synth player Geoff Evans (ASUNDER) and bassist/guitarist/synth player Matt Parrillo (DYSTOPIA and KICKER) and their debut album The Future Died Yesterday is a stirring account of the member’s musical influences.
TENSION SPAN and its members have a lot of history within the realms of post-punk, early hardcore and beyond so it is very natural for them to be making the music they make and paying tribute to the music that initially inspired them. With those influences including the likes of RUDIMENTARY PENI, CRASS, CONFLICT, ANTISECT, SUBHUMANS and the whole anarcho punk and peace punk scenes as well as the timeless sounds of the post-punk era, you can tell where TENSION SPAN are coming from with their music. The songs on The Future Died Yesterday are stunningly delivered, with the biting lyrics and discordant grooves adding to a fiery vibe to create a feeling of defiance and power to protest – a feeling that you can make a change in a number of ways resides as well.
This is an album that doesn’t back down with its lyrics, as heard when Landis passionately shouts “Why is it so hard to fucking care” at the end of the fiery The Crate Song, which is just the tip of an angry but ultimately eloquent set of songs.
The album flows perfectly and high points are plentiful with a song like Filaments echoing the crystalline feel of JOY DIVISION and WIRE while retaining a hard-hitting and atmospheric edge throughout, while Trepidation adds a KILLING JOKE-esque bassline and vibe to create a song of true dystopian beauty. The stirring and stunning instrumental I Have To Smile is life-affirming and uplifting while not sounding out of place, and the venomous Human Scrapyard unleashes audible anger and frustration perfectly.
This is an angry album that rallies against a whole host of ills that consume the world but it is done so passionately that it doesn’t fail to capture your attention, your mind and your soul. It isn’t angry for the sake of being angry either; there is an intelligence to the songs on the album without them being preachy or anything and this is what makes it so special and rousing, with the music acting as the backdrop for the messages to come straight out and make you feel them.
The Future Died Yesterday demonstrates the rousing nature that music can have and how it still has the power to unite and that is something that never changes. TENSION SPAN should be applauded for doing just that. This is a brilliant album that harks back and takes influence from the past but its ideals and targets are firmly in the present, while also acting as a catalyst for the future.
Rating: 8/10
The Future Died Yesterday is set for release on September 30th via Neurot Recordings.
Follow TENSION SPAN on Bandcamp.