Review
How it Ends
Beloved

Thorp (2005) Kevin Fitzpatrick

How it Ends – Beloved cover artwork
How it Ends – Beloved — Thorp, 2005

There's something to be said for bands that get right to the point. Literally within the first ten seconds of "11th and Arch", Philadelphia's How it Ends lets you know exactly who they are and what they're about. And on their second album, Beloved, How it Ends is all about the heavy. Heavy guitars set just how i like my coffee - heavy on the grind.

For those that have heard How it Ends' first album So it Shall Be, you'll be happy to know there's a new vocalist in town. What's that? You loved the band because of Ross'* vocals on the first album? Well then, you just loved the band for the wrong damn reason, dintcha? Gone is the done-to-death (no pun intended) guttural bullshit that can take the mightiest band and reduce it to something as memorable as a Matchbox 20 song. While always wearing a hardcore heart on their sleeve, How it Ends takes it one step further with Todd* behind the mic, with a shout straight outta the 1987 NY Hardcore scene that winds up doing the music a whole lot more justice.

Now, since the inception of heavy music, very few bands have known how to get the right drum sound, and sadly the sound of Beloved is no exception. Remember that real tinny firm-pillow sound of the bass drums on the ...And Justice for All album? Same problem here. This was the reason 'tallica stopped using Rasmussen, folks. Now, I'm not saying How it Ends needs to get Bob Rock on speed dial (Christ forbid), but it's a problem they and most heavy bands of today need to address.

The other main thing that needs addressing is lyrics. There's a stigma out there that fans of heavy music by and large are stupid. This is reinforced by one of two ways: by watching fan interviews on a Slayer DVD and by reading the lyric sheet of 94% of heavy bands, including this one. I know, I know. "Hey asshole, I like the lyrics. They have something to say. They speak to me". Well, that's because your little sister had to read the "big words" to you, Tolstoy.

Just because the music's about aggression, it doesn't mean it has to be dumb. But what's maddening is the slightest deviation from this and it's "groundbreaking." That's why the ass-hat from Korn is considered a genius because he whimpered about his uncle touching his bathing-suit area. And last I checked there's nothing groundbreaking about empathy. When it comes to this, we don't need a slight deviation. We need a revolution. How It Ends has the chops, the skills, and the heart. They just need to smarten up a little and trust that maybe, just maybe, their listeners aren't stupid.

* I don't know about you folks, but I find it hard to trust a band that only divulges their first names. It's like they're in some sort of hair-metal witness protection program.

How it Ends – Beloved cover artwork
How it Ends – Beloved — Thorp, 2005

Related news

How It Ends Mp3

Posted in MP3s on April 13, 2005

Recently-posted album reviews

Sexfaces

Bad Vibes OST
Slovenly (2025)

Best thing about writing reviews is finding out about new stuff that I otherwise might not have heard. Also writing reviews for bands that aren’t friends of mine is pretty cool but when I hear a band I really like, like Sex Faces, it makes me want to be friends with them, I can't help it! I’m not even halfway … Read more

Unseemlier

I Have A Screw Loose, Somewhere
Sell The Heart Records (2025)

What does Unseemlier sound like? I've been mulling that question as I listen to I Have A Screw Loose, Somewhere for a while now. As I listen to more and more Sell The Heart releases, The band is from Boston, but seemingly influenced by late '80s DC. It's heavy, but more with hardcore-like vocals shouted over moving, building guitars and … Read more

Personality Cult

Dilated
Dirtnap (2025)

I had a hard time starting this review. I can’t help coming back to the fact that it sounds like Marked Men. It does, maybe intentionally so, as Dilated is the second of Personality Cult’s albums that is produced by Jeff Burke of Marked Men and Radioactivity. But I don’t necessarily like to say a band sounds like another band … Read more