Continents: Reprisal

Artist: Continents
Title: Reprisal
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 30th October 2015
Reviewed By: Will Bright

I used to be a fan of screamo, back in the day. Nowadays, give me some good screaming if it's part of a sick post-hardcore tune and I'll be all over it: but the chugging metalcore that used to define the genre no longer does it for me. Which is good, because in between the harsh, unrelenting energy of Continents' latest LP, Reprisal, are some brilliant moments of experimental post-hardcore excellence that make some of this album an absolute treat.

Some of it, because however much I can devoid myself of genre prejudice in the name of a good review, I still just couldn't get into much of the album.

There's a lot going on in this release, and as I listened to it more and more I could appreciate its intricacies. Musically, it's sound. Not my usual cup of tea, perhaps not yours, but even so I have heard many, many bands try to achieve this sound and accomplish something that just brutalises your ears. Fair play to Continents, they know how to play, they know how to write, and it's clear that they aren't willing to stay within the confines of their genre. The end result is a mix of songs with ruthless energy, and songs that bring to mind the slower post-hardcore of acts like Touché Amoré.

It's the latter that are my high points of the album: in particular I and the title song, Reprisals; but first it's worth pointing out something that makes Continents stand apart from the crowd even with the songs that are, on first listen, pretty standard screamo fare.

It's all in the rhythm. Take a listen to the opening track, Drowned in Hate, and you'll hear this weird mix of rhythms, both in the percussion and the guitars, that almost borders on math rock. It works, managing to keep both the insane energy (seriously, regardless of what I write here, there's no way that Continents aren't absolutely amazing to see live) while spicing it up with a little rhythmic discordance that keeps things interesting. It's stronger in some songs more than others (Scorn is lacking in it for the most part, and suffers for it), but it's these moments that make Reprisal's heaviest stuff worth the listen.

Unfortunately, that doesn't stop a lot of the album sounding far too similar to itself: not always bad, but this is one of those instances where repetition fatigue sets in hard and fast. For my money, it's after the intro to the third track, Life of Misery, when a sick beat and dirty bass transition into the sort of song that's already been showcased twice. By itself, in all fairness, Life of Misery is the closest this album comes to hardcore punk, and is so close to being an absolute banger, even if it ends up being pulled down by genre limitations.

And what of the best moments? Within a second or two of I starting, it's clear that you're dealing with something different. It's short, sure, at a minute and a half, but it's so oddly peaceful, so reminiscent of one of AFI's quieter songs. The screaming is used in my favourite way, mixed within the music, complementing it rather than competing with it. Plus, it sets up Reprisal, the best track by a fair margin, perfectly.

Again, it's slow, driven by clean guitar-play, and built up beautifully so when the heavy shit drops, it works. Even someone who was an adamant hater of this sort of music would be hard-pressed to admit that Reprisal isn't gorgeously crafted, with every rise and fall so deftly executed that it pulls you totally inside of itself for a good few minutes, before you're so jarringly woken up by the aptly named Awakening (itself one of the better tracks on here).

A shout-out to Alone and II as well, which shake up the formula to close out the LP in a truly satisfying way. All in all, even if I personally can't really get into half the tracks on here, I know a lot of people will. And Continents have earned that much, as Reprisal is a solid album with some wonderful moments for any listener. If you get the chance to see them live, I reckon it would be a great show: such blistering energy might not get its point across via headphones, but in a room full of sweaty, amped up fans, there's nothing better.