Captured Howls presents a journal of observations, a linguistic art piece… a blog on arts, music, and cinema

Frail Body’s Stunning New Screamo Album Packs A Whirlwind Of Captivating Intensity

The Illinois band Frail Body wash over listeners with heavy waves of emotional release on their new album A Brief Memoriam, which is the group’s debut for Deathwish Inc. The band share a mostly extremely tightly wound screamo that rockets back and forth across the sonic spectrum with captivating intensity, underlined by an apparent confidence that emerges via how absolutely blistering the majority of this album really is. Listening feels comparable to stepping outside into an icy windstorm and remaining there, taken in by the possibility of sensing what this experience is really like.

The melodic waves that do course through this album’s torrential onslaught add a sense of somber beauty to the overall creation, as do the overall passionate textures — the vast majority of the vocals are screamed, and it sounds like the instruments are “screaming” too. The band include sheer epic intensity that the hurricane at their music’s center deserves. This sense rockets to the forefront at times like the track “Traditions In Verses,” on which the band resort to some prominent emotionally passionate clean vocal sections after they carefully roll in the relentless musical undercurrent that’s really absolutely massive in scope. The devastating musical hits come over and over again like the world around you has ended up heaving with emotion too. A Brief Memoriam quickly proves an immersive and captivating experience.

The band feel like they have somehow captured some of the most emotionally intense private moments in musical form. Whether those particular moments manifest thanks to grief, overall depression, anxiety over a loss of direction in life or whatever else, you’ll likely find an intensely on-point reflection of this emotional volatility in A Brief Memoriam. It’s emotionally grueling, but it’s a journey that really absolutely must be had, and props to Frail Body for having the artistic drive to lead the way. Thanks to the raw, beating underside of life they’ve musically captured via their accessible (to some at least) but wildly spinning music, the band deliver a sense of illuminating exploration on A Brief Memoriam that feels ready to be experienced again and again.

5/5 Stars

Listen to some below, and pre-order before the album drops in full on November 1.