Belgium’s Rise and Fall has blessed us with a truly powerful record. Recorded at Godcity Studio with Converge’s ever legendary Kurt Ballou, Faith is in every way possible Rise and Fall’s best offering. Bearing a sound that is equal in its helping of rage and sadness, one cannot help but feel the underlying struggle for hope. As being only one of the amazing bands from Deathwish’s exhausting pantheon, Rise and Fall’s fourth LP offers no room for disappointment. The riffs and drumming speak just as much as the vocals, if not more. Each track makes its mood concise, its intentions clear.
Faith is emotional and delivers us its tears in an unforgiving flood, ready to drown us all in lost love and regretful pasts. The album roars a great many things about life and in this honesty it would be unwise to not heed Faith. Standout is the guitar work, a mesmerizing, furious arrangement that offers few moments of respite. Ballou’s mark is prominent as Rise and Fall channels the sweeping, jarring riffs Converge is notorious for but makes them unique and never alien. These chords intend to similarly, violently embrace the listener, whispering and screaming its words of hope for the hopeless. Faith has its feet firmly placed as a hardcore record that experiments with the vast melodies of thrash and the barren, bleak passages of black metal. The punk vibe here is sophisticated but makes sure to never keep itself clean, getting down and dirty with the open wounds that sing its songs.
Faith’s arsenal is precise with the venoms of loss, regret and loneliness. The lyrics read like lost excerpts from an Ian Curtis notebook and come across just as honest. “Hammer and Nails” and “Deceiver” both share a theme of betrayal at the hands of reality and even more so by those we choose to interact with on this long, lonely road. “Burning at Both Ends” paints a picture of deeply rooted regret that is strung out, lost in cold sheets of merciless rain. “Things Are Different Now” acts a fading beacon that chokes on its own flames, never relinquishing its warmth to the night and it is here that Faith’s riffs become awfully beautiful. “Breathe” is a poetic hammerfall, stressing the importance of love when faced with the universal certainty that is death. “Escapism” and “Dead Weight” compliment each other as odes to the personal ramifications of lies and the resulting guilt.
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/05-Things-Are-Different-Now.mp3|titles=05 Things Are Different Now]There is honesty present on Faith that is equaled by few and Rise and Fall is beyond worthy of such flattery. The record acts as the great orchestra to the reclaiming of belief, love and life and does so with torch in hand, unforgiving of world, people and self. Rise and Fall means to warm us in the cold fires that we stoke in ourselves and they should be thanked in earnest for their monumental effort.
Catch Rise and Fall on their European tour and be sure to purchase Faith and other goods at deathwishinc.com.
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