Hearing Aide : Landscapes, “Modern Earth”.

landscapesBritish natives, Landscapes, have released their 2nd album, Modern Earth. Shaun Milton, Kai Sheldon, Martin Hutton, Tom Paulton, and Jordan Urch were named “One of the best hardcore bands in Britain” by Rock Sound. The album was released April 8 via Pure Noise Records.

My favorite track on the album and the one that stood out immediately was “Remorser”. The song starts out with what sounds like the plucking from an acoustic guitar. It is just a few chords but it was very different from anything I’ve heard on a metal album. We quickly see that this is setting the tone for the whole song when the vocals begin. Shaun Milton’s voice in this song is deep and monotone. We can feel the depth of his emotion. He doesn’t change his tone until halfway through the song and by this point we are hanging on every word he sings. My only complaint is that the song ends very abruptly, which I found was the case on a few of the tracks on this album.

“Neighbourhood” and “Escapism” are also tracks that stood out. “Escapism” features two vocalists, one sounding as a shadow to the other. The song seems to move in slow motion, which works very well with the two sets of vocals. “Neighbourhood” begins with a peaceful guitar rift. Shaun does not enter until the one minute mark. The song gets progressively heavier as times passes allowing us to feel several emotions throughout.

Their were things I enjoyed about this album but their were a lot of elements that seemed rushed or misplaced. The track “Death after Life” sounds like it was thrown together. The vocals do not seem to blend with the instruments. It is a similar situation with the track “Embrace”; the vocals are too harsh for the instruments.

Modern Earth shows a lot of potential for Landscapes. It is clear with tracks like “Remorser” and “Escapism” that these guys have the talent to wow an audience and still allow a song to have dimension. However, I don’t believe they used those talents throughout the entire album.

Key Tracks : Neighbourhood, Escapism, Remorser.

 

Comments are closed.