ALBUM REVIEW: The Only Heaven You’ll Know – Caskets
Off the back of their 2023 LP Reflections, Leeds post-hardcore outfit CASKETS have returned with their bold new full length LP The Only Heaven You’ll Know, taking themselves to new heights with an extensive range of metalcore and electronica sounds to create their most inventive and catchy album yet.
Kicking off the album strong with extremely passionate Lost In The Violence, to which singer Matthew Flood gives one of his strongest vocal performances to date, showing off his crisp vocal range and impressive guttural screams, to accompany the sheer scope this song presents; already giving the album a strong sense of scale and grandiose that only show even more through later arrangements and chord progressions in the album.
Ramping up to the title track, the band give an example of a more stripped back and synth-heavy tune that feels so raw in its lyrics, composition and tone; there is so much more emotion as Flood gives some of the cleanest and melodic singing on the entire album that is only taken to a new level with more of those aforementioned screams as the drums and guitars kick into overdrive to deliver a song that is gut-wrenching in nature.
As the album progresses, things get more emotional, more raw and more atmospheric, they incorporate violins and more orchestral tones to make the sound even more epic, the list of killer riffs and melodies from guitarist Benjamin Wilson only ever invigorate this feeling. These elements come together especially for the second half of the album. By the time it hits What Have I Become, the band leave no emotional stone unturned and really dedicate themselves to making a collection of songs that people can relate to its intensely emotional storytelling; the aforementioned in particular seems to tap into the moments in life that give you a dark realization of becoming someone you don’t recognize in the memory, making for quite a powerful song about identity.
Though the songs stay tonally and sonically similar, the lyrics and themes take the listener through a journey of being stuck in the dark and trying to fight your way out mentally; this kind of honesty is what makes music of this ilk so great as CASKETS open up their thoughts and feelings, as they ‘totally smashed their heart on their sleeve’ for this album and it certainly shows. The themes of loss, hopelessness and trauma are beautifully woven into this metalcore opera that any fan of the genre and get their teeth into and relate to; the band definitely seemed to reach a level of catharsis here that only comes from pure honesty.
The album finally reaches its end with the song Broken Path, ushering in an epic finale to this deeply personal and emotional album, with plenty of spacious synths giving an 80s sound that sonically circles off all the other tools used. CASKETS dug deep here, making something very specific to them because in fact there often unity in the particular.
Rating 7/10
The Only Heaven You’ll Know is out now via SharpTone Records.
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