- Genre: 'Heavy Metal'
- Release Date: '22nd September 2017'
Our Rating:
First thought: Vanity is a truly awful name for a band. It so happens they previously went by the name Vanity Draws Blood, which isn’t great either, but even so. The cover art and ‘conceptual’ title (it continues a sequence initiated with last year’s ‘Perspective // Dread’ EP) scream pompous metalcore with an emo edge, and on the one hand, that’s pretty much on the money. But it’s forgivable for the most part, because they make a decent job of it.
The title track is but an introduction, piano notes drift delicately through an enticingly atmospheric swirl that borders on abstract classical. And then ‘Tranquil’ slams in, and it’s anything but: a thunderous roar of fury with pounding drums, there’s a lot of detail and the structure’s imaginative without being excessively convoluted. Guest vocalist Lilly Macieira’s soft, harmonious voice provides an appealing counterpoint, and then only questionable element is the rather 80s synths which interlace with the savage guitars.
‘Sorrow’ and ‘Extrovert’ very much follow the form, with Macieira again bringing contrast, her tones as graceful as the lead vocals are guttural on the latter. Closer ‘Affinity’ marks both a change of pace and tone, going for – and achieving – expansive epic vibes.
