From Here On
Hope for a Bleeding Sky
7.1
In a strange symbiotic occurrence that includes my own obsession with anything related to the short lived but exceptionally influential metalcore band Prayer For Cleansing and Tribunal Records’ continued desire to milk anything even vaguely related to Prayer For Cleansing, I came across this ‘re-release’ of what is basically the earliest defunct related band to PFC, Undying and Between the Buried and Me. It’s technically a re-issue even though the original 1999 pressing was limited to 700 copies and now with a re-mastering effort it’s available for mass consumption, though its appeal is more guided towards stalwart PFC and BtBaM fans.
The common thread here is vocalist Tommy Rodgers who has spent time in Prayer For Cleansing and Undying as well as his current project, Between the Buried and Me, and what From Here On amounts to is the early, straight edge iteration of all those bands sounds; brutal, melodic and emotional covering all tangents from lumbering death metal infused hardcore and chaotic yet melodic metalcore. Of course we’ve all had out fill of that style recently, but try to remember this was done in 1999 and so seems to be arguably one of the earlier deliveries of the now saturated style.
Of course, even with the remastering, the material lacks the productive, polished punch of the modern era of likeminded peers (BtBAM, With Dead Hands Rising, Deadwater Drowning, Glass Casket, Embrace the End, The Taste of Blood, etc), but at a core (pun intended) level, these 6 songs display rough and ready, early grasp of a genre still finding its niche, and a primal rage that’s seems lost in today’s note heavy spastics.
Opener “Closure” is basically the template for any death metal tinged metalcore being plied today; rumbling harmonies, galloping structures, a few spoken words, and a mix of screamed/growled vocals. All stuff being hammered to death today, but here it seems far less superficial and forced. “Shard of Glass” hints at PFC’s surly melodies after a pretty relentless death metal salvo while “Further Away” gives us a glimpse at an angry, caustic side of the band that seems to resurface later on in Between the Buried and Me. “Tears” runs rampant with pacing and delivery that is unmistakably PFC, but also includes some rather dissonant breakdownage that’s pure BTBaM; the lineage here is instantly recognizable, even if the other musicians in this band seemed to have disappeared, Rodgers influence as the primary songwriter is obvious both here and in his other projects. Truth is, in his later incarnations he surrounded himself with slightly better musicians to carry his chosen and unique sound. If Paul Waggoner (guitarist for Prayer For Cleansing and BtBaM) played the emotive solo towards the end of “Tears”, it would be truly special.
Closing out with the artfully melodies of “Hathuska Wandebae” and the bludgeoning title track, its enjoyable to hear these early, formative recordings that seem bereft of the genres recent over saturation and scenster emo tainting and subsequent backlash. From Here On with even 6 years later seem honestly brutal and melodic without forcing either issue.
This is pretty much no brainer for fans of any related projects and will hopefully remain blissfully historical and not reform to sully their groundwork laying effort.
