Album Review: ERRA - 'Silence Outlives the Earth'
ERRA arrives with a record that reflects the constant state of flux that humans live in, caught between the past and present and different emotions. ‘Silence outlives the earth’ arrives to test the band’s musical and thematic acuity to its limit – embracing the constant state of flux that defines us all.
From the star stelliform plunges you into the unique headspace that ERRA operate in, showing us a band that exists in a minimal space between the own creation of the record and that, in its quieter moments, allows the five piece from Birmingham (Alabama) to explore the self-reflection marred in with the aggression.
The founding members, Alex Ballew (drums), Jesse Cash (guitar, clean vocals), J.T. Cavey (lead vocals), Conor Hesse (bass) and Clint Tustin (guitar) have always been able to completely evoke purifying contemplation in their aggression and find the right balance across the board between an emotional outpour and an onslaught of rage. It’s an existential crisis record and that’s only a good thing – stelliform spotlights the rapid passing of time “centuries evaporating in a haze / it terrifies you / expiring without ceremony” that allows the band to reflect their own morality having basically been around since 2009 and are veterans of the progressive metalcore scene at this point. They deserve to be much bigger than they are – and it’s criminal that they haven’t been selling out arenas at this point. Silence outlives the earth reminds everyone why they deserve to be a household name.
Flowing into the double header of further eden and gore of being and the clash of vocals between J.T. Cavey and Jesse Cash on vocals, both lead and clean, allow for a real contrast of this aggression/contemplation that runs throughout the record. Cavey is aware of how this record sounds: “we accidentally wrote a dark album again,” he says, tongue in cheek. It’s an album that feels like a statement on what’s going on around them, which progresses through its study of existence. Further eden talks about the high demand of existence and aging, “growing cynical” and the importance to find peace in the panic and manage the “pressure I can’t outrun.” It’s a belief that they’re not the only one; which will go down a storm with the audience around them as a refusal to lose themselves to a digital leach and embrace the avoidance of an automated, digital age in favour of connection. However; the contrasting of gore of being plunges you further to the edge – the brink of extinction and the overwhelming emptiness of no core, no meaning. The screams are fantastic – and when it switches into the heavier vocals and thundering guitars it goes hard.
It’s bleak stuff, powerful and emotive and comes clear with a hard edge riffs and plenty of swinging vocals that drift seamlessly throughout the record itself. It’s a broad statement piece that fits what the band feels like is their best work to date, with it being Jesse’s favourite that he’s made so far. It’s got a bit of everything across the board; allowing for plenty of sonic tugs-of-war that dominate the searing blacker-than-black nihilism that runs through cicada siren and lucid threshold. It’s an album that goes into very dark places; but it’s reflective of the world that we live in today – a dark album about going to the edge and the metaphysical nature of dreams that we can’t escape from, embracing the self-reflection and almost being crushed and overwhelmed by it.
The concluding three tracks are a trilogy of cinematic flow and relevance that start with the many names of god. ERRA save the best to last here as they tell their own story; structuring the track as a front-to-back listen that weaves a rich thematic continuity from start to finish – it feels more cohesive than even their legendary self-titled, structured and well-built. It’s a follow up to cure and a move away from the single titled records which show a story in its own right; the band’s evolution over the years. It’s a testament to the sonic power of metalcore and its enduring appeal; and shows how a band like ERRA can stay as strong as they have done since the late 2000s and there’s still a place for them among the current genre space we inhabit.
It’s a trilogy that shifts gear – the consider of silence that outlives the Earth; and you’re left asking if the band think that they can outlive the Earth as well – by the end of this record you’d be wrong to assume otherwise. It’s a song that Jesse Cash wrote; not setting out to write about his dad dying, but inescapable to avoid, anchored in a dark headspace that allows for a therapeutic emotional process.
This song is followed by ii in the gut of the wolf and iii twilight in the reflection of dreams, the album grand-standing finale that comes in at 4:40. It’s influential and garners inspiration beyond just Cash’s personal story, but books and narrative. It’s something that as you progress it is not just tied to one person’s story but allows the band to embrace their own narrative and atmosphere – existing in flux, between what has come before, the lofty history of ERRA’s past work, where they are now and what’s coming next. They are the kings of metalcore as a genre and show once again why they deserve to be considered the best of what it has to offer.
Words by Miles Milton Jefferies
