What does “hope” mean to you?
It might be a feeling, or the sight of the sun rising, or the sound of a loved one’s voice. But for me, hope has always been the guttural vocals, intricate guitar riffs and crashing beats of the band The Color Morale. Their music focus on topics like depression, abuse, suicide, anxiety and any type of mental pain. Despite these heavy themes, The Color Morale’s music has always preached a message of hope and endurance through hard times.
If you have ever listened to my radio show, it is very clear that they are my favorite band. Regardless of my previous attachments, I have tried to make this review as unbiased as possible, and I have still concluded that their new record, Desolate Divine, is a true masterpiece.
To fully understand the band’s evolution, it is important to go back a few years. After The Color Morale’s first two records, My Devil In Your Eyes and We All Have Demons, were released, the band went through a dramatic lineup change, retaining only their original vocalist, Garret Rapp, and drummer, Steve Carey. As such, their sound also changed dramatically. Rapp gave a truly emotionally uninhibited performance on the 2013 record Know Hope, with his truly remarkable unclean vocals. Rapp continued to pour his passion and pain into their 2014 record, Hold On Pain Ends. Desolate Divine seems to bring their style full circle. Rapp has split the vocals with lead guitarist Aaron Saunders, who now delivers deep, guttural unclean vocals that rival any death metal band’s screams. This dynamic is very reminiscent of their older work, when Rapp split unclean vocals with bassist Justin Hieser. Desolate Divine is an excellent balance between their new and old sounds, and is a step forward in the band’s well executed evolution.
Photo Credit: Fearless Records
Rapp’s vocal change is very fitting for the themes of the new record. While Know Hope and Hold On Pain Ends were all about expressing pain, Desolate Divine discusses the often overlooked but equally important question of “Now what?” After everything that I have been through, how do I live my life now? Who am I without facing all these struggles and pain? Desolate Divine answers these questions with, yet again, a message of hope. While this album may seem like a step towards the pop side of the alternative scene, with catchy choruses and well-crafted melodies, it still feels like an honest emotional change in direction, rather than an attempt to make more money by appealing to more people. This album maintains the honesty and vulnerability of previous records, but for different questions and problems.
The lyrics in this album are absolutely incredible, and could stand alone as complex poems. Each word feels meticulously selected to portray the emotions listeners are unable to articulate themselves. Desolate Divine includes a wider variety of styles and sounds, as well as instruments. There is enough variety in the tracks to keep the listener engaged, but not so much that the album loses its overall voice.
The Color Morale’s new album Desolate Divine is a true post-hardcore masterpiece. With a repeated message of hope through hard times, The Color Morale balance their original sound and newer style to build a deep, emotional, but always hopeful, masterpiece that will appeal to anyone who has ever struggled or felt alone.
May we all remember to find hope in our own times of desolation.
My rating: 9/10
Favorite tracks: “Trail of Blood,” “Clip Paper Wings,” “Keep Me In My Body,” “Broken Vessel”
Tracks for listeners do not enjoy screaming: “Broken Vessel,” “Perfect Strangers,” “Misery Hates Company,” “Fauxtographic Memory”
Catch The Color Morale on The Face To Face tour this fall, with Hands Like Houses and Our Last Night, in Salt Lake City at In The Venue on December 11 at 7 pm.
Check out my radio show, Siren Song of the Counter Culture, on Thursdays at 7 pm, on KBLU 92.3. For updates, follow the show on Twitter, @SirenSongARadio.
