Well look at that. Just a couple weeks later and here we are. I'm posting my thoughts about Recitation, the brand new Envy album. Honestly, I don't think the CD is even close to be fully lodged into my heart, but when that time comes, I can always make another post in the future.
Let's get one thing straight, and get this out of the way...
Personally, Envy will never top Insomniac Doze. Sure, to you it may not be their best record, as most screamo fans will agree that All the Footsteps You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead is their greatest achievement, and I'm sure tons of people who got sucked into this band in 2003 agree that A Dead Sinking Story is their most monumental and iconic album, and extremely nostalgic to say the least. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if there are assholes who think this band died after From Here to Eternity. To each his own. All that I know is that Insomniac Doze is truly that 'album-never-to-be-topped- album, for me. Moving on...
Recitation is incredible.
Recitation is diverse, as well. There are definitely a few connecting aspects of the record though, and one huge thing that I find very new about this CD its' overall mood: dare I say......uplifting?
Envy have been a band literally known to make grown adults cry at live shows. Not many bands are known for doing that. What you might not know is that Envy is a band that can make me cry just from listening to their music on CD or mp3 format. Now I may be a hopeless emotional Italian, and tend to get very moody when listening to beautiful music, but if you're able to make me want to grasp my face and weep into my hands with your music, you are doing something amazing.
Normally, with Envy, especially on Insomniac Doze fills my world with gorgeously painted sadness. The melodies throughout that entire album are filled with so much emotional grief and sorrow. The most melancholic and epic parts intertwined to make one heaping pile of devastation. It makes me want to weep.
On Recitation, Envy make me want to weep tears of HOPE. Something I never imagined weeping about.
Just from the initial notes from the piano on "Guidance", I suddenly get a feeling of a new perspective from the members in this band. Sure, the intro to this CD can be translated as something quite sad, but I see it differently, especially given the song title. Even the slow, and foreshadowing build of "Last Hours of Eternity" fill me with feelings of change happening (although it feels as if this song is actually foreshadowing this band calling it quits soon, hence their long career, and the name of their debut lp). This track also is a combination of "A Warm Room" off of Insomniac Doze, and an epic piece from Mono, another incredible japanese band, strings and all. Needless to say, it's fucking WONDERFUL.
The following song "Rain Clouds Running in a Holy Night" is where the band begins to further pick up tempo and mood. The 'chorus' of the song, which suddenly turns into the climax of the song after the gorgeous, orchestral, three guitar build up, is one of the cheeriest and joyous things I've ever heard from this band. Tetsuya Fukagawa's vocals over this section brings a huge smile to my face. With each Envy album, his voice gets deeper, and with Recitation, there's no exception. Fukagawa's screams are nearly barbaric at this point, yet are still as emotional as they've always been.
After the awesome and almost chaotic "Pieces of the Moon I Weaved" comes another near masterpiece from the band called "Light and Solitude". Structure wise, the song is very typical. Yes, I'll spoil it: it's five minutes of soft drums, guitars playing beautifully until finally drums build up and the whole song explodes at the very end for two minutes. So why consider it nearly a masterpiece? THE MELODIES. And it's amazing how they stick with you. You do not understand until you hear the song finally start to build up. It sounds like heaven and it's so gorgeously cheery and catchy, and does not fail to almost bring tears to my eyes.
"Dreams Coming to An End" is a very welcome and upbeat punk song that I quickly fell in love with. The song is extremely catchy and reminiscent of classic melodic hardcore. It also keeps the flow of the album going from overall softer songs to more faster tempo songs, yet all seem to consistently remain hopeful sounding, despite how soft the songs are.
After "Incomplete", a very quick acoustic guitar intermission which breaks up the first half of the cd from the second half, comes "Worn Heels and the Hands We Hold". This song combines what feels like classic, and epic Envy melodies into a shorter and faster song. Although I wish it were a tad longer, it is a great track. It's not until "A Hint and the Incapacity" that again I want to explode of my own body. Following the typical and similar structure of "Light and Solitude" the guitars once again mingle and play, until suddenly every instrument is united in a stampede, or maybe even an avalanche of post-rock crescendos.
If you thought the band couldn't top their euphoria in the earlier songs, they prove you wrong with "A Breath Clad of Happiness". If the song title didn't give it away, this song literally is the most inspiring and 'happy' sounding tune they've ever done. The tremolo guitars sound like they are crying in blatant ecstasy. The CD comes back down a bit with "0 and 1", which took the longest to grow on me of all the tracks. It turns out, this might be the HEAVIEST Envy song they've ever written. It literally possess legitimate doom with the highly mixed bass, slow and steady drums, and droney guitars. It's an incredibly powerful piece and makes for a good overall conclusion of Recitation, but not until the final notes of the outro, "You Hand" which is a beautiful reprise of the opening track on the record, this time with strings.
Again, this may have been too soon for me to translate my thoughts on this CD into a huge mass of text and typing, but I can't hold back the feelings that this is once again another monumental album from Envy. Throughout the 66 minutes, it seems to encompass and touch base on everything they've tried to achieve over their existence, yet with a whole new and confident vibe. It might be a tad much to handle on the first few listens, especially since this is quite a bit of individual songs, but in the outcome, huge fans of Envy should be exceptionally pleased.
I know I am.
