I the Mighty Where the Mind Wants to Go Where You Let It Go Review

I The Mighty are a strange case in the mail-hardcore world. They've got the slick production, the tight grasp on melody and a frontman with the charge and range to be perfectly eligible to slot into the modern class of heavy-hitters, merely they've tended to gravitate towards more progressive circles and acts like Coheed And Cambria. Information technology'd perchance be comparable to a band similar Dance Gavin Dance, only even they've got at least 1 human foot in both scenes; I The Mighty have always vehemently wanted to be accepted as a prog-stone band, no matter how suited to mail service-hardcore they might exist.

 That ultimately brings upwardly the question of what the aims are with Where The Mind Wants To Get / Where You lot Let It Go, arguably the band's almost straightforward album to date that does indeed infringe from modern postal service-hardcore more than than anything else, all while centring primarily on feelings of youthful confusion and heartbreak. It'southward a assuming movement to take such an unashamedly pop-leaning pivot, ane that has its moments, merely arguably feels too lightweight and oversimplified to have a comprehensive, lasting effect.

 And yep, a large part of that is the instrumentation which has been smoothened out considerably and struggles to capture I The Mighty in the all-time light. It's definitely a case of overlaying information technology with gloss-heavy production more than than anything else, not helping when that really goes overboard like on Chaos In Motility'southward attempt at a modern popular song that feels also jerky and doesn't benefit from a feeble shell drop, or The Audio Of Breathing's very serenity presentation that, for the most office, reduces any guitar to a fluttering fiddling fragment. Information technology feels every bit though I The Mighty practise take a full general idea of where they want to go – something similar the widescreen popular-rock of Sleepwalker or the combination of twitching beats and more prominent guitars on Silver Tongues – but something ends up lost in translation here, peradventure the trivial feeling that overall song structuring feels weaker than it should, or the fact that in that location'south then much padding with effects that don't demand to be here.

 Thankfully it's not an issue with the entire album, and even if Where The Heed Wants To Go… feels less engaging overall, I The Mighty are notwithstanding solid at penning hooks and making them stick out when necessary. There'due south a sense of swirling drama to Pet Names thanks to its miasmic bass groove and chorus that feels oddly muted only definitely works for what it is, while there'due south an impressive buildup to a fuzzed-up crescendo on Escapism, and 111 Winchester actually finds a way to mesh the two smoother sounds together with a bit of added groove for the all-time possible result. It also helps Brent Walsh remains every bit strong a vocaliser as ever; he's in that same bracket equally the Trenton Woodleys and Keaton Pierces of the scene, but with a vocal timbre that tin can sound uncannily similar to Mayday Parade's Derek Sanders at points, if anything it's a fleck more evocative and malleable, particularly in terms of how driven by emotion so much of this material is.

 But that's where another snag comes into play, in that for as much pining and emotional torment as is going on here, at that place's little to spark any real empathy. At least Walsh isn't overselling his performance, which for this genre can be crippling if made a regular characteristic, but while there may be some sense of stakes that comes through in the instrumentation of Pet Names or Symphony Of Skin, they're so restrained vocally that a lot of what's meant to exist conveyed feels neutralised. That's when things don't accept an ugly lyrical turn besides; for what is primarily a breakdown-axial album, Where The Listen Wants To Go… isn't virtually equally infuriating equally some others that leap to listen (hi Makeout), merely with a track like Where The Heed Wants To Become, where Walsh questions his ex about whether she would regret leaving him if he killed himself, that sheds a sledgehammer to whatever composure that was and honestly should have been left off here.

 It's one of a few issues that this album has, none of which are peculiarly breaking in their ain correct, but can seriously stall information technology out when applied at once. It altogether make Where The Mind Wants To Get… feel misguided rather than outright bad, and album with it's program clearly mapped out, simply doesn't account for the hurdles that it inevitably hits anyhow. If this is the direction that I The Mighty want to continue in, the heavy lifting is at to the lowest degree washed here; in that location are still parts that demand tweaking, just as a broad canvas to have a running start with, this album does suffice.

6/10

For fans of: Too Close To Touch, Coheed And Cambria, Slaves (U.s.a.)
Words past Luke Nuttall

'Where The Mind Wants To Become / Where You lot Allow Information technology Go' by I The Mighty is released on 20th October on Rude Records.

annandscat1953.blogspot.com

Source: https://thesoundboardreviews.com/2017/10/13/album-review-where-the-mind-wants-to-go-where-you-let-it-go-by-i-the-mighty/

Share this post