Music

Album Review: Touche Amore’s ‘Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me’

Published

13 years ago

June 2, 2011

The second Touche Amore announced they were writing/recording a new album, it instantly became the most anticipated album of the year for me. Very few bands have gained the amount of attention and momentum that Touche Amore in the past year. From doing self releases to now being signed to Deathwish Inc., things are changing for the band. Did this affect their sophomore release for better or worse? Was the album worth crashing the Deathwish Inc. E-Store? Read past the break for my review of “Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me. Enjoy!

The album opens up with “~“, pronounced “tilde” and with the first few opening notes the song pulls you in slowly only to come crushing down on you with Jeremy’s first opening lines screaming: “I’m parting the sea between brightness and me! Before I drown myself and everyone and everything!“. It’s fair to say from this moment on you are hooked with Jeremy‘s screaming, super clean blast beats and crushing guitars.

Touche Amore “Tilde” by deathwishinc

The album moves rather quickly and, before you know it, you’re on track seven going “What the hell just happened?”. And this is a good thing. The lyrics to this album hit really hard emotionally. The tone of the lyrics bounces back and forth between giving up and having hope, highlighting what it really feels like being in your mid-20s not knowing what to do or how to handle things at times. Ed Rose produced this having previously worked with The Get Up Kids and Coalesce I felt that he was super appropriate for Touche Amore. The album was recorded over the span of five days with him having the band being recorded live to achieve an “honest/raw feel”.

I say without a doubt that “honest/raw” feel they were going for was definitely achieved. I can’t remember the last time an album moved me like this. Maybe because I’m the same age group as the band or maybe it’s because I feel music, especially hardcore music, really needs a band like this. The last three songs blend together the nicest. The whole album really flows nicely but those last three songs just really stand out. “Condolences” being the album’s only “slow” track serves as a nice build up for the next song. Only a piano is being played during the song with Jeremy screaming in what sounds like a very hollow room matching the tone of the song. With a line in particular standing out “If you fantasize about your funeral, I understand. I’ve been there before. If there’s more importance in the music played than who’d attend, then we are the same!“. “Home Away From Here” and “Amends” tie a nice bow to finish the album up with the last line being “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry and at the end, I swear I’m trying!“.

To be honest I can’t say enough nice things about this album. I knew it would be perfect and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The band really stepped it up, made some changes and came out with a fantastic record. This is not an album that should be overlooked by any means. Please pick this album up, support this band and this album. Bands like this deserve all the support they can get.

5 out of 5 skulls

SuperRadMike

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Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…