A DEAD SINKING STORY

This is a very emotive release by one of the most distinctive sounds in post-rock. Envy harnesses the musical aggression and gutteral vocals of hardcore to juxtapose the chaotic and the serene & the ugly and the beautiful. A Dead Sinking Story is the group's most accomplished work to date; while its predecessor was a bit too aggressive and its successor is a bit too, well, unaggressive, this one has a near-perfect mix. While we shouldn't look down on the albums that sandwich this one, especially the latter, Insomniac Doze, we must appreciate the singularity of this release. Never before has a band melded these sounds & styles as Envy does (and they do it very well, I should add). It's unlikely that any band, even Envy themselves will make a record quite like this again.

The record is very powerful, but it is imperfect. Sometimes songs are stretched a little too long, the two soundscape tracks are mostly ineffective (also a bit too long for what they do), and the vocals could have used a bit more variety. The vocalist defaults to screaming anytime the music gets loud, and sometimes screams when it's quiet. It's not inherently bad, but the screamed vocals can get monotonous. The sung vocals are a nice addition to the soft parts, and it's difficult to imagine lead vocals sung over many of the other parts, but maybe some backing vocals would have worked very nicely. It's not up to me to say what they should have done in this regard, though. I'm happy with the vocals as they are for the most part; the only real complaint is the monotnous screamed tone.

Nevertheless, A Dead Sinking Story is a great record. It's unique and it's powerful. Comfortable fans of standard post-rock may not have a need to hear this, and if they're not into screamed vocals at all, they probably won't be converted after hearing it either. Post-rock fans looking for something fresh, and any adventurous music fan looking for something really emotional without making them look like a pansy really ought to check this out. Insomniac Doze may be the easier starting point, but A Dead Sinking Story will prove to be the more versatile and memorable of the two. In any case, the music of Envy can be a very cathartic experience, and it's cetainly worth hearing.