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Home: B : Beloved : Biography
Biography (courtesy
of MIS-ONE)
For a genre that's foundations are rooted
in individuality and dissention, hardcore has given birth
to hordes of cookie-cutter bands, who’s success is often measured by their ability
to imitate the stereotype. Every once in a while, however,
a band surfaces that sets the concentric circles of influence
into motion. Remarkably harnessing exceedingly more intensity
than the typical hardcore vocal approach by utilizing melody,
Beloved addresses the human condition, failure, and perseverance
with an emotive and heart-wrenching attack that is equal
parts brutality ad beauty. "I feel like hardcore has
become sort of a stagnant… [it] can be beautiful if
its done honest and pure, and not just to fit some mold;
that's what we are trying to go for," says chief vocalist/guitarist
Joshua Moore. While most bands that have ventured this approach
have either produced little more than mono-tone vocal drone
buried under screaming, or sacrificed the purity of the genre, "Failure
On" is an immaculate combination that borrows without
diluting integrity. "I feel like we are doing something
that is honest, and important to us. Our music has a chance
to maybe bridge the gap between hardcore and melody, in a
very seamless way."
This dedication to honesty, purity
and innovation becomes all too clear moments into Failure
On. The slow burning and soaring melodies of album opener "Failure on My Lips" ushers
in the record’s tone and showcases their maturity of
songwriting and dynamic grasp. Alternating moments of galloping
double bass drum and syncopated rhythm section assault with
Moore's lilting, wounded angel vocal delivery fills stand-out
track "Allure", and is testament to the band's
perpetual growth and momentum, even through the recording
process of this year's Solid State Records debut. The floating
and fragile dual guitar parts of "Death to Traitors" skirt
and intertwine before exploding into relentless, plodding
pounding serving as a fearful backdrop for their challenges
and songs of struggle. "The title of this record is "Failure
On" . I think its a very open-ended title, and leaves
room for the listener to interpret. "Failure On" to
me is a very open-ended idea, like life has been over the
last year and a half of writing, [when] we learn from our
failures, and we move on. Thus, Failure on. Some of the songs
focus more on that; this struggle with feeling; trying to
hide that from others. Some of the songs are written to people
that have personally done us wrong, and many of the songs
simply challenge people to listen to their hearts, and choose
for themselves what they want to live and believe.
Recorded with hardcore and metal veteran
GGGarth Richardson (Rage Against the Machine, Chevelle), "Failure: On" captures
the raw, emotive intensity of a band bent on stretching boundaries,
encapsulating beauty and translating the duality of struggle
and victory into an equally double-edged artform.
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