Hanging Garden - Goodbye Love… Hello Heartache…
I discovered this band earlier this year when a friend told me I’d like them (come to find out he meant the other Hanging Garden, from Finland). After some Youtube investigation, I tracked down a copy of 2009’s How Will You Live Your Life Today? and I haven’t looked back since. It’s the embodiment of Suicidal Depressive Black Metal. The complete worship of Negativity and the soundtrack to love fading. I’ve listened to it every day since. It came to me at a very low point in my life, and since I’ve been listening to it, I’ve stopped going out to bars with friends, stopped going to shows, stopped fucking my ex, stopped partying, stopped doing nearly everything short of wanting to die. Is it the fault of that bleak album or a mere coincidence? I might never know, but I haven’t ruled out cutting myself just yet. Not only have I fully embraced this band, but in a relatively short time they’ve turned me on to many other similar artists. One of them being the equally life-hating Happy Days, whose 2009-2010 output is some of the genre’s finest. Why all this background info? Because on Goodbye Love… Hello Heartache…, A. Morbid of Happy Days went from being the drummer of Hanging Garden to doing everything but the drums. Who knows what has become of Creature, the original mastermind behind this project. I’m guessing suicide, but that’s purely based on listening experience. Musically there is no change. Beautiful melodies of pain. Pure depressive misery in all its glory. Morbid can turn the simplest guitar melodies into tears in your eyes and standing hairs on your neck. It’s also recorded better with fewer hiccups (fans of the first album will know exactly what I mean) and great use of samples (another one of Morbid’s traits). My only question is Morbid’s vocals here. He is using his high-pitched howl almost exclusively (fans of Happy Days will know exactly what I mean). It’s part hound-dog, part my-mom-crying and it’s going to take some serious getting used to. Imagine Varg’s vocals on “Ea, Lord of the Deep” but with no grime, just the falsetto. Creature’s vocals were more standard Black Metal, albeit sadder, and Morbid’s are normally similar. Why he chose such an unorthodox approach for this relatively orthodox style is beyond me. What’s more puzzling is he teases us with his standard Black Metal voice only once on the album, at the end of leadoff track “Where I Belong.” Why not mix it up? We know you can. I still love the record for its chilling suicidal radiance, and I’m hoping I’ll get used to the howling with repeated listens, but if I ever wanted to give something a 10, this was it. Compared to the first album it just isn’t quite as good, with only the vocals to blame.
(0) Comment(s)
Page 1 of 1 pages