The Gloom In The CornerFlesh & Bones

Look full disclosure: The Gloom In The Corner’s Homecoming makes up three out of this reviewer’s top 10 tracks on Spotify in 2017. Bias would be easy to call here, but for a metalcore tragic, the EP was a perfect evolution beyond their debut record Fear Me.

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Key touchstones of the band’s back catalogue are dotted heavily around their latest Flesh & Bones. “I walk across the sea of flames” will be incredibly familiar for any Gloom fan; ditto with “you gave up all that you own/your love and your home/but what I regret what the most/is giving up on you.” Juxtapose that with the vulnerable delivery of “home” in Homecoming’s War and Easter eggs abound. It’s easy to see that the narrative the band have created is incredibly dense and surprisingly palatable for a local outfit.

Progression or death: Flesh & Bones is somehow stuck in between both. It’s not a full slip down the Rabbit Hole, but we haven’t seen Gloom’s full potential just yet.

Compared to the tortured scribblings of Fear Me and the surprisingly affecting Homecoming, it’s a strong divergent from their previous efforts. However, this is by no means a write off: Mikey Arthur’s voice has always been the standout in Gloom’s previous output and the “we all fall down” in D.I.M.A’s crescendo is superlative here. Survivor’s Guilt’s “fuck it” breakdown and the closing moments of Can’t Reach The Sun are also vintage moments. Progression or death: Flesh & Bones is somehow stuck in between both. It’s not a full slip down the Rabbit Hole, but we haven’t seen Gloom’s full potential just yet.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Peace, Survivor’s Guilt, D.I.M.A
STICK THIS NEXT TO: Alpha Wolf, Dregg, Diamond Construct