In order of appearance,
MydriasisFor those of you that didn't know, Mydriasis is a condition brought on by an evening of hedonistic drug-taking, resulting in permanently dilated pupils. I tried my best to make a metaphor out of this to represent their music, but I'm feeling incredibly uncreative today, so we'll just get straight down to how this record sounds. Opening on a sombre note with 'Open Shutters', we're lulled into a false sense of security that 'In order of appearance' will be a ghostly, eerie sounding affair. While the initial track stands its ground well, it holds very little up against the following on the record.
The first real taste of what Mydriasis is all about comes about in the form of 'Through the Sellophane'. With a guitar riff that makes grand use of harmonics and drums reminiscent of Thursday, this is a typical-sounding emocore number. Vocally there's a great sense of Britishness about it, as frontman James Cooke doesn't fall foul of the recent trend to sound identical to the likes of Adam Lazarra and Geoff Rickley. With some strong harmonies present to add an extra bit of depth to the song, it's nothing groundbreaking, yet still manages to impress.
Elsewhere, 'The Mannequins' offers a change of pace from the standard, beginning as a gentle acoustic number, only picking up when the vocals kick in. As the song progresses, it builds more and more into an epic-sounding distorted piece of music, yet feels like it's been cut a few minutes too short. With the potential of becoming a Coheed and Cambria-esque theatrical affair, it seems a shame to put a limit on what it could have been. 'Mirrors and Magnets' follows a similar principle, with an increasing presence of electronic drums as the songs plods on. Sadly, it's not anywhere near as good as the other acoustic offering, with its watered down Marilyn Manson type vocals being the main fault of the track.
Songs such as 'Forced to Relate' and 'Simple Things Collapse' take a more conventional heavier route, and while not possessing the standard cookie-cutter sound of many of today's bands, it still struggles to offer anything that truly makes you think 'wow, that was a bit special'. Unfortunately, this is probably the best way to sum up what goes on in 'In order of appearance'. Taking influence from a whole host of genres, yet not pushing the boundaries of what's been done before any further, this is really just an OK album that feels like it could have been great.
Andy R
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