Genre : Chaotic hardcore, Blackened hardcore, Noise rock, Mathcore
Released : February 3rd, 2023
Label : Indisciplinarian
FFO : Portrayal of Guilt, Hexis, Pupil Slicer
NOW THEY ALWAYS SAY CONGRATULATIONS, WORK SO HARD FORGOT HOW TO...
Yeah no, that ain't the one.
If you're looking for an upbeat song about a success story you're in the wrong place I'm afraid.
This is still a party though, but let's just say your "friends" dunked your head in a cheap flavorless cream-coated cake and left you there with your party hat on, birthday decorations sadly flapping about in the breeze while the music blares on and you're left to contemplate the emptiness of it all and how you even got here in the first place.
If you weren't already familiar with the sardonic, nihilistic bleakness of Danish chaotic hardcore outfit EYES, well, that's that sorted out.
And if you were already acquainted with the band's sophomore album "Underperformer" with its ear-scraping accounts of self-deprecation and its visually striking album cover implicating suicidal imagery, then you knew that things weren't going to get any lighter as EYES continue to blaze their way out of the underground slowly but surely.
As their third album, "Congratulations" definitely comes off as being much more confident and focused in terms of what the band's intentions are in regards to the direction of their sound, which in this case sees them double-down on the rawness and aggression of their dissonant style of purposefully deadpan hardcore with the addition of more apparent mathcore influences (for instance, the dissonant sliding guitar riffs in "The City" and album closer "Ballast" are highly reminiscent of the guitar work on Daughters's self-titled release).
The production has definitely improved as well in my opinion and makes the band sound louder and bigger than on previous releases while still maintaining that "rough around the edges", unclean raw aggression their sound mainly relies on.
Thematically, as I previously stated in my opening paragraphs, EYES continue to explore the bleakness of modern existence, whether that be by addressing the dehumanization of employees to keep the gears of businesses turning regardless of their well-being or the seemingly never-ending rat race to escape the clutch of debt in album opener "Generation L".
EYES also take a shot at conspiracy theorists in the album's title track but also mirror the reality of the alarming state our world finds itself in and that as a result, a significant part of the population, in their apathy would rather want it all to end but only «just in theory, just in thought» instead of doing anything of consequence, out of fear, in the track "IT'S HAPPENING".
I could keep doing a case-by-case study of each track's thematic, but it becomes quickly apparent that the album's overarching theme is pointing out how hollow the idea and perception of success as well as its celebration has become nowadays in the greater scheme of things within a system that is inherently flawed and more often than not, rewards mediocrity in place of anything of more substantial value.
Something which the track "Value" adresses by putting into perspective the very notion of value and how it has become blurred within the incessant fast-paced race for the top of the social echelon, which recalls Chat Pile's "Tropical Beaches Inc.".
Behind all the energy and anger of EYES's music and beyond the themes they choose to discuss lies a certain resolved desperation and powerlessness in the face of it all, which no amount of exasperation can change and is exemplified in the words of closing track "Ballast" :
«I could rave on all day long
Write clever word for angry song
Not a word I said would come on through
Nothing would change, no one would grow
Repetition and futility
Only room for hostility
Nothing you or I can do can change where we'll go to
Our fates sealed by god-complexes in suits»
Whether you agree with their bleak and bitter vision of the world or not, it is that genuinely nihilistic, defeated perception and approach that makes EYES standout among other hardcore-adjacent acts in my opinion.
The anger is there and it is real, but it is also soul-crushingly self-aware of its limitations.
Although it barrels through a rapid mere half hour, "Congratulations" leaves a lasting impression, even more so if you dig a little into its significance, and is sure to attract more EYES (yeah sorry about that, had to try and lighten the mood a little ya know) on the band from that point on, at least that's all I wish for them.
The world might be a shite place to live in on most days (especially these days it seems) but hey, at least we get to listen to some pretty cool tunes as we all go down 🎉.
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