Sundowning [CD]

Being a fan of many Trustkill bands (18v, Bleeding Through, Fight Paris, Bullet for my Valentine and it dies today to name a few)i heard a song by This is hell on a trustkill playlist and i can say i immediately fell in love with it. the song was 'polygraph cheaters' and having listened to the album many times now, although this song is definetely a highlight, i was in no way dissappointed with the rest.

the album opens as it means to go on, with the idea of things collapsing around you- quite a reoccuring theme, with fast paced hardcore, in the vein of comeback kid or with honor. its fast, with good guitar riffs nd a guy shouting over the top. Personally, i think travis reilly has a very good voice although, as you expect with this sort of music, it is the same basically all the time. the guys employ good gang vocals to add to the songs and don't overuse this, which makes them really stand out and effective.

You could critisize this is hell and say that the songs bleed together and are all the same. after a few listens though, some of the songs begin to stand out as favourites. also, if their song formula is very very good, why change it? My favourite songs are 'Permanence', with the excellnt outro 'These are the things that i never ever wanted to know, with smling scars across our throats, if the good die young we'll live forever'. then of course there is 'polygraph cheaters' which i think has the catchiest hardcore 'chorus' ever, you'll be singing, or shouting along from the second listen! other standout songs are 'procession commence', again with excellent lyrics and also the album closer 'epilogue'.

Aside from the actaul songs, the artwork is really good and it includes the lyrics. the downside is to be expected from this sort of album- it only lasts half hour. the answer to that is listen to it twice though :D it also has two instrumentals, which i think work well to give yourself a little break from all the hardcoreism!

overall if you are reading this, you are more than likely interested in this sort of music, in which case you should buy this album, because it is very good! The lyrics are fantastic, the guitars imaginative and exciting, the drums and bass are tight and hold it all together, and they have fantastic potential to become leaders of the new hardcore scene along with comeback kid with honor etc etc.

Hardcore can be quite a rigid, formulaic genre with its bands 0ften being much of a muchness. This Is Hell haven't really re-invented the wheel with Sundowning but they certainly stop spinning and force forward momentum with some of the best hardcore recorded in years. I say that as someone not given to hyperbole.

From start to finish Travis Reilly's relentlessly energetic and emotive vocal delivery holds your attention. His astoundingly poignant lyrics manage to follow a rhyming couplet pattern throughout without ever feeling contrived or inducing a wince. The linguistic dexterity is admirable in a modern musical landscape often dominated by cliches and an absence of meaning.

All the while the frenetic drums and guitars of his bandmates add to the urgency that permeates everything the band do; it feels like they are giving everything they have to every single note because it might be their last. Two well placed interludes and a couple of slower paced songs, like the darkly engaging The Absentee Ballot, ensure that the tracks are broken up enough that the album sounds like a series of separate songs rathe than one long shout-fest as many hardcore albums often do.

It's not a happy album by any means, but that's sort of the point. Underneath the resignation and acceptance of failure, though, there is a strangely uplifting overtone of sticking two fingers up at the Fates as they do their best to keep you down by just getting on with things anyway. If more people listened to this album the world would be a better place.

9.5/10

Sundowning is -in my humble opinion- one of the best hardcore debuts I have ever heard. Fast-paced, aggresive, great lyrics and in your face. The songs are very well written, great riffs and great drumwork. The production however is rather flat. This is much, much better on Misfortunes, their second album. Personally though, I prefer this album, but if you're smart..just get both, as they are really, really worth it.