Labels: excursions into the abyss
Review by: Oli Saunders
Apologies first all to the label ‘Excursions Into The Abyss’ that sent this in for taking so long to review it. They had probably given up on me and vowed never to send anything in to Collective ever again. Sorry. News in the last year that Portraits Of Past had got back together and, furthermore, made a new record, gave an interesting mixed reaction across the internet – I generally don’t actually talk about hardcore bands to people in real life. I remained sat on the fence about the situation but as long as the music is as good as it was I am all for reunions done for the right reason. If Sleepytime Trio ever get back together I’ll be all over it, guaranteed.
The question is then how well does this record stand up to the band’s previous output; their 01010101 LP, split with Bleed and a couple of compilation tracks. There’s no doubt that they were pioneering in their time – the LP came out around 1996 and broke new ground in semi-chaotic semi-epic emo. Funeral Diner later expanded and, in my opinion, improved on the sound, but few others have matched it – and numerous other bands have undoubtedly been influenced by them, particularly the group of post-rock screamo bands that have arisen in the last few years. Making a new record that stands up to this is tough but I think this effort is worthy. The main ingredients are still there – lots of intensity, interesting flowing riffs, and characteristic vocals of old. It doesn’t sit up there with the best of the band’s songs, but its not at the bottom of the pile either. My main complaints are a slight reduction in the harshness and intensity – I am not left blown away like I have been at times with the first LP. The sound is not quite as rough as before and this also detracts – too many modern bands are making recordings that sound less and less punk.
Overall I will probably stick to the early stuff the most when I listen to this band, but Cypress Dust Witch is a solid record and old and new fans of the band should still appreciate it.
26th November 2010