reveries have a lot to say. Their music — as exemplified by their 2018 self-titled release — feels like it’s alive. The simmering emotional post-hardcore reaches for the listener over and over again in each element of the record. Yes, it’s a perhaps morbid metaphor, but the record at times sounds like someone struggling to tread water turned into a collection of songs. There’s an intensity and a drive that pervades the release that makes reveries stick out.
Overall, the band’s apparent effort to really grab hold of the listener gets a great assist from the production and other particular stylistic elements of their work. The slick sheen the work maintains gives it a unifying and clear aspect. reveries sound like they know precisely how they should sound on tape — and live too — in order to get their message across.
The full length in question, released early 2018, is the band’s first, but it feels highly developed. There’s no apparent struggle on the part of the band to figure out what exactly they’re doing. Neither is there an over-reliance on tired tropes and cliches. The band maintains their own unique, poignant voice.
The vocal work majorly, although not solely, drives this feeling. There’s less of a sense that vocalist Michael Green is singing and more of a feeling that he’s speaking with the listener themselves. The stylistic choices make for a much more engaging experience than might be present otherwise. There’s little barrier between the artist and the listener here — reveries present personable work to be shared by all. This music encapsulates the intimate, intense shows where fans scream right along with and right next to the vocalist. We’re all in this together here.
There’s an important unifying sense hanging each piece of the record at hand together. It’s not as though the band simply banks entirely on the strength of one aspect of their presentation and leaves it at that. Instead, the instrumentals sound like they’re “speaking,” too, engaging the listener in a conversation that must be had. There’s a catharsis and a thrill that spills right over into the listener’s psyche once pressing play.
5/5 Stars
Listen to the band below via Bandcamp.
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