Innards - Tracing (2010)

Download

I don't know what is the situation with the weather in your hometown, but here it is unbearably hot. I've been stuck at home for a couple of days, brain completely fried and without the slightest wish to go outside. The warmth totally kills the inspiration to do anything and it really took all my strength to write down this review. Luckily for my tormented grey cells, this band is already well known to the readers, or at least it should be, so I won't be writing a huge wall of text, since by now we all know how much this band kicks ass.

Yes boys and girls, "Innards" are back to shake you up from the monotony of daily life. I already wrote about this band and their previous release and you should definitely read that writeup here if you missed it by any chance. In case you couldn't care less about reading some old stuff, quick introduction for the band follows. Four amazing dudes playing some double amazing screamo, simple as that. The "four guys crying from Texas", as they are referred to on Last.fm, are again hitting me through the speakers and totally managing to solidify all the things I wrote previously about them. "Tracing" was just the perfect medicine for rising me up from the zombie like state I found myself in due to the weather and even succeeding in exceeding my expectations. The thing that initially grasped my adoration for them was the amount of different sounds, moods and techniques present in their tunes. Due to the fact that this release is longer than the previous one and the fact that they continued with the audio diversity, this ride is extremely thrilling and simply adventurous, the listener thrown into a whirlwind of sound. We are faced with some Australian screamo rending riffs, yet mixed up with some French epic spice a la "Daitro". The general feel of the music is constantly changing as we hear aggression to mellow mood swings akin to melodies we get to experience in songs from "William Bonney" and "Midwest Pen Pals", but with a unique twist. There is also an omnipresent clash of indie like guitar playing with some math start stop techniques and even some subtle post rockish buildups, the tone just bouncing from chaotic to gentle and back again.
Having so much various things on display for the listener can be a bad thing at times due to the fact that the release as a whole could sound not so coexistent, like the songs are just randomly thrown together into a package. "Innards" however have an uncanny ability to tame that wild beast so well and sculpt a damn fine release. All nine songs on "Tracing" fit perfectly together and flow very nicely. This was the thing that I was very intrigued to hear, whether or not the band will succeed in doing the thing they so masterfully did with the previous recording. And as I already said, not only did they shine again with the same light as before, but managed to take it on a new level of sorts and it provided much happiness and enjoyment for yours truly. There are certain melodies that really hit the spot and just completely melt me away, for instance the entire song "Clean Cut, Rough Trade" is literally a work of art composed of a fine number of the styles and traits this band is known for, "Hard To Swallow" with it's amazing ending sequence and so on. With so much going on you are bound to come back to this release numerous times, but enjoying it always.
I've been contacted about this release back in March (yes, shame on me for being so late with posting band submissions), "Tracing" in fact released the previous December, and luckily the band remains to be alive and kicking even today. They recently released a split with "мища", which you can take a listen to on their bandcamp page here, and as much as I saw on their facebook page, found here, there are some talks about a split being recorded with "Adobe Homes", which gave my brain a boner to say the least. All in all, if you haven't figured out by now, you should absolutely, most definitely check out "Innards" and keep a close eye on them. This is just one of those bands that is most likely never going to cease surprising and it would be a shame to miss out on them.