ALBUM REVIEW: The Last Goodbye – Aburden
There seems to be a growing trend in the post hardcore music sphere for more stripped back approaches to the music, utilising more ambient musical avenues whilst keeping the heavy drums and strong bass to keep the music heavy. This can be an incredibly effective musical combination, but if done carelessly it can become incredibly one dimensional, which is something that ABURDEN fall trap off on their latest record The Last Goodbye.
The record opens on My Best Friend, which is made up of a repeating piano motif and the wailing vocals that don’t quite hit the mark that they were intended too. The fact that they’re not even lyrics makes it a risky endeavour, and the vocals just aren’t strong enough to hold the opening up.
Sorry fairs better, building until a swelling chorus opens up and shows that ABURDEN have a clear knowledge of progression within their music. The song hits the exact same notes that HOLDING ABSENCE are currently perfecting, and despite the cliched spoken word break, the song does a pretty good job at showing what the young Aussie act are about. The same themes are continued through into Don’t Say, which finishes on a grand ending of open guitars and crashing drums, even if the song has another cliches semi spoken word break.
The group picks things up a bit for the following One For You, showing a different side of them musically but the lyrical content and vibe continue to be linear, not really venturing too far away from the theme of regret and heartbreak. Whilst it’s a topic that most can resonate with off the bat, it becomes incredibly trying after a it’s been done so on the nose the way that ABURDEN do. The music is certainly a good bedrock, but it would appear that the sometimes deadpan vocals and the trying lyrics are the downfall of a band that are clearly full of potential.
The Last Goodbye is a short offering, sitting at just eight songs, which makes it all the more important for the songs here to be as good a quality as possible. It becomes a real theme across the album for the music to really steal the spotlight over the vocals, that twang and tinge in weird places during the semi spoken word segments that heavily pepper the record. Need You is a prime example, the opening introduction building with the addition of gentle piano chords that really add depth to the song before the verse reduces it to another bit of cliched post-hardcore fodder. ABURDEN need to venture outwards of their one dimensional vibe that is achieved on The Last Goodbye. The album feels one-note, and despite having clear moments of potential the record just never shakes the safety wheels off.
Rating: 5/10
The Last Goodbye is set for release on October 12th via Greyscale Records.
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