The name ‘Freya‘ is a fairly new one on the hardcore circuit, but the name ‘Earth Crisis‘ may ring a few more bells. Three of the five band members in Freya were former Earth Crisis players and have picked up where the much renowned veterans of hardcore left off with polished hardcore melodies in thirteen short and sharp tracks. Released on the hardcore ‘favourites’ label, Victory, they have a lot to live up to and struggle to carry the mantel from their former bands heyday.
They rip their way through thirteen tracks ranging from the poetically slow and pristine ‘As the Last Light Drains’ to the ferociously aggressive ‘Deadly in her Eyes‘. This all adds up to an album which leaves you more than happy with what they have produced but at the same time, feeling as if you haven’t really seen all the band are capable of.
‘Veritas’ is a tidy instrumental opener showcasing the band at there melodic best, but the first real effort to wake you up follows with ‘Negative Infinity’, a well crafted song featuring sublime moments of silence followed with hugely emotional screams and well layered vocals. ‘Down in Flames‘ comes straight out the blocks hurling noise at you and although a little formulaic by nature, it stands up well against other tracks out there. ‘Glasseating Smile’ is a wondrous title for a song and is more reflective and dare I say it ‘commercial’ even with the deafening screaming inserts over the well shone melodic vocal parts. ‘As the Last Light Drains’ starts in nothing more than a heavy dose of crunching ‘pop’ punk and never really goes any further than reminding you of a standard ‘Glasseater‘ track. Very melodic, but falling into nothing more than a standard emotional hardcore stereotype. ‘Dead in her Eyes‘ is short sharp and brimming with energy and passion but unfortunately the album is put down to the standard level again with another poppy effort in ‘April Witch’.
So halfway through the album and you can’t really pigeon hole the band. Sublime moments of emotional hardcore are overshadowed by poor lacklustre pop-hardcore songs that really don’t rise above anything else smothering a overcrowded scene already. ‘Resuscitate’ and ‘Throwing Rocks at Drowning Men’ push the album in the correct direction, with the latter featuring a splendid bass line. ‘Doomsday Device’ feels rather forced and ‘Tortured’ is another that fails to strike any chords, plodding along at an uninspiring rate. ‘Seize the Day‘ and ‘Daisy Cutter’ complete the album on a heavy high but it all feels to little to late.
Freya certainly has got the experience and talent to claw their way out of a scene overcrowded by mediocrity, but with this album you feel the waves of noise are ripples by the time all is said and done. The louder more aggressive vocals work well, but the melodic parts sound to polished and tend to contradict certain songs when the track features frenzied drumming and crunching guitars. There is nothing dramatically wrong with the CD, it just lacks the spark to really make it stand out.
Jay