If you are a frequent visitor of this site, perhaps you remember my glowing review of Naedrs debut album Past Is Prologue. That album made a huge impression on me and still gets heavy rotation. So you understand I was quite excited to see new material from this band. And it is a split release no less, so it presents an excellent opportunity to get to know Crowning, who were unknown to me until now.
Crowning is a band from Chicago. They have one album and a couple of EP’s under their belts so they aren’t exactly new to the scene. They play a mix of post-hardcore and screamo, which makes it a more or less logical split partner for Naedr. On this split they present us for songs including an intro. The three full tracks are two short ragers of around two minutes and one epic four minutes song. The riffing is hectic and chaotic, the vocals very harsh. These short songs seem to fly by. My gripe with them is that they do not provide much to hook on too. After playing them multiple times I enjoy listening to them every time, but don’t remember anything from them afterwards. Crowning’s final song on this split “Quivera” is a bit more memorable. It slows things down a wee bit, with riffs that are easier to recognize. “Quivera” ends with a sweet outro, thus making way for Naedr.
On Past Is Prologue Naedr played around with the flow of the album by slowing things down on the way and moving from pure and short screamo songs to longer songs with stronger post-hardcore influences and a dash of post-rock. On a split they do not have enough playtime to present another one of those journeys. This made me curious how I would appreciate their input as the flow of the album is one of the keys for its success in my opinion. Like Crowning, Naedr offers two shorter songs (well under two minutes each) and one longer one (close to four minutes). Naedr starts out with their longest tune, working from screamo to a short post-rocky mid part building up again in post-hardcore style. Second track “Eclipse” is a slow and more quiet track with talkative vocals. Final track “Ascension” is the highlight of the album with a build up getting more violent in its short runtime. In these three songs Naedr remembers a close friend who passed away. The impact it had on them is transferred to these songs, you can share in their grief and loss. This gives these songs much impact.
I was impressed by how Naedr handled themselves on this split. With only three songs and hardly any room to build up tension like they masterfully did on their debut they remain standing as a force to be reckoned with. Their side of the split is a side that I will return to a lot.
All in all this is an impressive and enjoyable split from two bands in good shape, with one side being more memorable than the other. HIghly recommended for both fans of the genre and those who are looking for a starting point for their journey into screamo territory.
