Modern day Post-Hardcore has gotten a lot of bad rap. Mostly because the creation of modern "emo" music and how it seems to be so diluted to the point that they seem to focus too much of pop sensibilities. While having pop sensibilities if fine you are honestly a pop band.
The problem then become when they start calling themselves Post-Hardcore or some bands start taking to the term Screamo when there are amazingly original and energetic bands that also use that moniker. It became so bad that journalists started to drop all connotations of Screamo and started labeling bands like Page 99 or Circle Takes the Square "Skramz" instead.
While the modern Screamo phase seems to be over and has retreated away away from the mainstream media, terms like Post Hardcore or even Screamo are slowly being claimed back by many bands. Like the original first wave of Post Hardcore bands like Fugazi that pushed the boundaries of their music, these new wave of Post Hardcore bands also their stuff to the next generation.
Envy, created a blend of Post Rock, Post-Hardcore and Screamo while bands like Isis mixes Sludge Metal, Atmospheric Music and Post-Hardcore to create that devastatingly huge ground pounding sound. Thailand played their part in restoring justice to the moniker with Degaruda.
Out of the streets of Bangkok, Degaruda throws away all the normal conventions of structure and musical arrangement. They throw it away and reconstructed what it means to be Post Hardcore. Some of their tracks don't even have vocals and let the lead guitars do the singing. In fact it was done so well that I didn't even miss the screaming vocals when accompanied. Now the problem with writing instrumental tracks normally would a lack of sense of direction.
No one is there to give commands or to tell the narrative to the listener. So if you get long verses, it tends to get boring very quickly. So there are several things instrumental bands resort to. It is either to slowly build up like an orchestra, creating amazing crescendos that could shake the ground like many amazing Post-Rock bands do or use leads to bedazzle you with their guitar skills.
Now Degaruda does not go into shred territory but they do an amazingly beautiful work with the guitar leads. The guitar leads feels like a scout leader leading you through a camping track. He isn't barking commands at you, he isn't forcing you to go through when you can't but he melody just urges you to go on that trip. When he reaches the camping spot, then all of a sudden the vocals kick in when needed.
A combination of gang shouts and throat shrieking madness. Nothing too frantic, but strong enough to give you the kick while maintaining composure. Sometimes there are melodic clean vocals that kicks with a gruff but still able to accompany the guitar leads. The guitars even at times are willing to enter Stoner Rock territory and give you a taste of it. It's the right amount of crunch and melody, providing you with the right blend of textures.
You can say that this is like eating an ice cream with the cone. Crispy cone made out of corn flour on the outside, but sweet, soft and cold Neapolitan flavors on the inside. The bass lines also add another texture to the whole dish, with the contrast between the guitar melody lines and the bass making everything grounded. The simple yet perfect drumming pounds his way through with a certain sense of versatility. The drums never do go fast at a manic pace but glues everything with a midpace beat and is willing to fade out at the slower parts to collude with the drums to lead to a build up in the song.
At points, I felt like listening to a Kyuss or Queens of the Stone Age record with Melodic Post-Hardcore tendencies. The heaviest track for me was the track Lambs which felt as if they could very well enter Stoner Metal territory if the guitars were tuned much more lower and the amps giving more heavier distortion. In fact, they even teased with a pseudo solo.
I wanted more heavier sounding riffs after but I can't be selfish, and hope every band can suit my Metal tendencies. To be honest, some of the guitar melody in this track easily fit into a Sludge track. Maybe one of the lighter ones.
To wrap this review up, to me this album has a nod to each and every era of Post-Hardcore and how it evolves in the years. From the instrumental Art Rock like lead guitars to the heavier Stoner Rock, almost Sludge tracks to the Post-Punk like verses. This was best highlighted in the track Full Hands where each of every single of those were blended together to create this melancholic masterpiece. Well, it helped a lot that I was listening to this while it was raining.
While not delving into one of those specific eras or sounds of the more popular, well known bands, it does a great job in telling them thank you. Even to the more Melodic parts flirt with Pop stylings.
While the tracks may be easy listening to those on the edgier side of music but this doesn't mean that the band could easily be digested by a regular Pop music listener. This is a love letter to Post Hardcore I fell in love reading it.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DegarudaMusic
Bandcamp: http://degaruda.bandcamp.com/
Terence A. Anthony commutes between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. Co-Founder of Aural Chaos. He also writes for Greater Malaysia and Opinions Unleashed.