Los Angeles hardcore mainstays Touché Amoré first unleashed Is Survived By’s cathartic, brittle and abrasive rumination on personal legacy a decade ago, but it continues to hold its own in a screamo universe so often either lyrically impenetrable or light on melody.
Some records open doors, giving birth and lending credence to entirely new sub-genres. In 2013, Deafheaven’s Sunbather did precisely that, firmly demonstrating that dark metal needn’t be the preserve of neck-bearded Northern European doom-mongers, instead invigorating the genre with melody, lyrical tenderness, and a depth of musical arrangement and instrumental diversity almost previously unheard of within its traditionally insular enclave.
Not only does Dog, the sophomore album from New York’s Richie Quake, bristle with more hooks than a fishing tackle warehouse, but it also represents a genre-blending body of work that becomes so much more than the sum of its parts.
If you’re not on your feet and dancing by the time Utopian’s opening track, “Cheerleader,” has been playing for 60 seconds, you might need to check your pulse: there’s every chance you might be dead.