Have Heart - Songs To Scream At The Moon
Have Heart is widely seen (together with Verse) as one of the new stars at the hardcore firmament. Songs To Scream At The Moon is their third effort. The third cd is most of the time the crucial one.
Have Heart, for people who have been living under a stone, plays a form of hardcore most of the time called emotional hardcore. A bit of a vague description and most of the time confused with emocore and the like. Let me make one thing clear that this doesn´t have anything to do with that kind of ´mallcore´. Their music can be compared with Comeback Kid, though Have Heart uses a bit more variation and melody in their songs.
It´s clear when listening to this album, why Have Heart is called one of the best newcomers in hardcore. Pat Flynn has a nice aggressive voice. It reminds me a lot of the voice of Scott Wade (Comeback Kid), not a bad reference in my book! They also throw in the occasional gang vocals, something that a lot of people find cheesy, but I´m a big sucker for those kind of vocals.
They use a lot of variety in their songs compared to their peers. This album is less aggressive than their debut album, but they vary more with atmosphere and less aggressive parts. Maybe that´s not something fans like to hear, but it´s not something that is detrimental to the songs. Because of this the songs sound a bit more mature and give the album more depth. Also a big plus is the production. Sometimes hardcore albums have so much aggression in it that the overall production doesn´t sound as clear and that it seems like they created a wall of sound instead of music. This wall of sound is still there (especially in the guitar sound), but the instruments are recognizable, something I find important!
There is one big negative point and that´s the playing time of the album. 21 minutes?!? Way too short! If it wasn´t because of that I would have given them 80 points, because it´s an excellent album, but this is way too short, even for a hardcore album.
78/1001Details Bridge Nine Records
Released on Thursday Aug 7th, 2008
Hardcore
Writer @Neurotic on Tuesday Sep 30th, 2008
Tags: #Have Heart
Tracklisting
1. The Same Son
2. Bostons
3. Pave Paradise
4. On The Bird In The Cage
5. Brotherly Love
6. No Roses, No Skies
7. The Taste Of The Floor
8. Reflections
9. Hard Bark On The Family Tree
10. The Same Sun
2. Bostons
3. Pave Paradise
4. On The Bird In The Cage
5. Brotherly Love
6. No Roses, No Skies
7. The Taste Of The Floor
8. Reflections
9. Hard Bark On The Family Tree
10. The Same Sun
Line up
Pat Flynn – Vocals
Ryan Hudson – Guitars
Kei Yasui – Guitars
Ryan Briggs – Bass
Shawn Costa - Drums
Ryan Hudson – Guitars
Kei Yasui – Guitars
Ryan Briggs – Bass
Shawn Costa - Drums