ALBUM REVIEW: Wrath Like Flowers Upon My Brow – Careful Gaze
As if they hadn’t had enough of being locked in over the past couple of years, Minneapolis post-hardcore quintet CAREFUL GAZE shut themselves in once again in February 2022. This time though, it was into a home studio to record and produce a collection of songs they’d been writing and tweaking for over a year by that point. The result is their second full-length record, Wrath Like Flowers Upon My Brow.
This record is a tender and melancholy look at processing childhood trauma and coming to terms with loss outside of the religious lens so often used for comfort. Pretty harrowing stuff then on the surface of it all, and Wrath opens the album with a mournful, almost spoken dirge over minor guitar notes. Slowly and surely, the track builds to an outpouring of frenetic energy and vocalist Gabe Reasoner letting out an almighty roar.
Gemini Split swiftly follows with a bit more of a positive, spangly sheen to it and sounding like GRANDVIEW, or BASEMENT’s more pissed off cousin. Again, the vocal versatility is on point, delivering singalong choruses and anguished screams in sensible, effective balance. Rich, warm guitars carry the melodies and the drums are far enough back in the mix so as to not overpower, but always given the space to cut through for effect in the quieter moments. An instrumental bridge precedes a final section that will go down an absolute treat live and marks this as a highlight on Wrath Like Flowers Upon My Brow.
Later on in the record, Teach takes more of a mid-00s emo approach, while Sisterwraith opts more for the indie-pop bed, from under which a progressive shoegaze monster emerges. It’s a varied and rich tapestry of sounds and styles, all coming together cohesively under the post-hardcore banner and avoiding feeling like a muddled mess. That being said, there are some minor missteps throughout, namely Default Days which bizarrely stumbles from the territory of clumsy nu-metal to jangly indie-pop and finally a touch of outdated metalcore, and ultimately marks a midpoint on the album that feels far weaker than the opening numbers. The Park and Flowers (which is admittedly something of an interlude) round out a triumvirate of forgettable filler that somewhat drags this record down.
However, the final few songs build that trust and merit back up, culminating in the gorgeous and sorrowful Not Tunneled. Starting out as a low and slow introspective number, the track bursts to dazzling life with a final section that feels like an aural fireworks display – so much to look and marvel at with bright colours and sparkles dotted on a pitch background. Fans of THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE & I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE in particular will find a lot to love in this impassioned and fantastic finale.
A marked step up from their debut outing, CAREFUL GAZE have produced a strong set of sad anthems that should scratch an itch for most emo-tinged post-hardcore fans. In taking inspiration from a wide batch of genre legends and lesser-sung heroes, there is great variation throughout the record and while they may seem to lose their way a bit at one point, they haul it all back together in fine form in the end.
Rating: 7/10
Wrath Like Flowers Upon My Brow is set for release on July 15th via self-release.
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