Last year I chanced upon an album by Deathwish Inc. band State Faults. The fusion of styles was like nothing else I’d heard before and it was one of my albums of the year. This was my introduction to the genre known by some as skramz and screamo by others. With my interest heightened with every Deathwish Inc. release, discovering Spanish 3-piece band Boneflower has been a highlight of what is shaping up to be a very good year for exciting new music. Their 3rd album Reveries mixes beautiful melodic guitar with the itchy raging force of post hardcore tones with stunning results.
Formed in 2015, the band have toured with such luminaries as Touche Amore, Loma Prieta, Trauma Ray and the aforementioned State Faults. Consisting of Eric Montejo (guitar/vocals), Rubén Desan (bass) and Jaime Diaz (drums) this exciting trio have worked hard to get to where they are, and Reveries should find them reap the rewards of their labour.
The brief introductory piece ‘Reveries’ tees up the magnificent opener ‘The Sun and The Moon’ which blasts straight into the all-consuming chorus fusing clean vocals to an anguished scream style. Melodies permeate the mix as the battle between raucous chops and languid clean guitars rages hard. It’s almost like two songs being played at the same time yet it all sounds synchronised and meant to be. ‘Sal En Mis Pestañas’ finds Jaime getting to flex while Rubén’s bass churns the ground with gnarly power. Shifting tempos and beat patterns the song fidgets and spins keeping you guessing as to where it will go next.
Lead track ‘Pomegranate’ which features Touche Amore’s Jeremy Bolm switches between a blistering collision of manic beats and twisted riffs and a beautifully melodic chorus that is a bona fide earworm. ‘Nocturnal’ is the first song to allow the clean guitars to flow, only Rubén’s bass brings a little volume. The melodies and harmonies are stunning, it’s like a hardcore R.E.M. Dynamically, the track gets more charged the longer it plays building up to an explosive ending of splintered beats and throat destroying shrieks.
It’s not all bluster as the mid-paced ‘Coup de Grâce’ brings a little respite. Clean guitars ring out over thunderous beats before the majestic and magnificent melodies of the latter half of the song appear bringing a dreamlike flow. ‘Sad Bird’ throws some flamenco claps into the mix of liquid gold guitars that shimmer between the eruptions of pounding drums and raging distortion. In ‘Tears Return When Heartbreaks Don’t Heal With Time’ there’s some dexterous guitar lines pushed high in the mix as Rubén’s bass powerfully rumbles. This is the beauty of Boneflower, the raw emotion of the screeched vocals is offset by some wonderful melodic tones.
The song that initially caught my attention is the glorious ‘Anniversary’ which has some sublime twanging guitar, last heard on the brilliant Paw song ‘Jessie’. It’s a beautiful fusion of opposing sounds, the aural equivalent of a thunderstorm. And what a chorus. Chicken grease clean guitars ring out a gleaming melody in ‘Lonely Meteor’ while a sturdy set of metallic chops snap and bite with menace. The track is almost instrumental as Eric gives the music some space to breathe. ‘I Gazed At The Starred Night All Alone and Blood Tasted Like Honey In My Mouth’ pushes the limit for obscure song titles, luckily the song lives up to the magnificence of the title. The track stretches out with a slowcore rumbling bass and ringing cymbals around a gentle deathly beat. As an outlier to the rest of the album the instrumental showcases a wider vision for where the Boneflower sound could venture to. ‘Estrella’ picks up the pace again like a hurricane with raging guitars, clattering beats and a vicious vocal turn from Eric. The mighty chorus will sweep you up with the swirling guitars and memorable melodies. There’s a gloriously euphoric section where the band lock into a wonderful melodic state of bliss, it’s over before you know it, leaving you wanting more. Closing song ‘The Void’ launches with a dreamy yet violent chorus then drops into a gorgeous wave of shimmering guitars and grinding bass. Eric’s vocals float in the ether as the guitars move into post rock territory with some beautiful lines writhing together. The ending is pure bliss as the dreamy parts trade off with the anguished howls, leaving you wanting more.
Like last year’s magnificent State Faults album, this album drags me further into a serious love affair with the skramz genre. There’s so much to explore as the two polar opposites of melody and punkish aggression blend. It’s music like this that can bridge styles and allow people to move into musical territory they might not have tried. Yet none of it sounds contrived or clumsy, it just feels like it’s meant to be. That’s were a band like Boneflower will flourish, they write great songs and the musicianship is superb. Reveries is an outstanding collection that will be revered in years to come. A contender for album of the year.
