Intense and heady
The new album from HORSE the band is their 4th full length and if anything it’s heavier and more intense than anything prior. They retain the quirky synths and the fun (but always hiding darker depths) lyrics but “Desperate Living” doesn’t hold back on the heady thrills; hardcore riffs and screams fill every track and the melodies are excellent.
Opener ‘Cloudwalker’ doesn’t leave you in any doubt as to the direction this album is going to take; immediately chugging in with massive riffs and desperate vocals but then showing their progressive side with a slower section of soothing synths and a wistful melody. ‘Desperate Living’ has their trademark ‘game-like’ sythns in full effect and at first comes across like Depeche Mode until the screaming starts then things get a bit nuts and we get something akin to Dillinger meets Donkey Kong, it’s brilliant; quirky, uplifting and danceable. ‘The Failure Of All Things’ is hardcore with metal riffs and is super fast in places, the synths adding an extra layer to the manic pace and of course, as with all the tracks on this album, that just describes the opening section of the song, there are so many twists and turns it’s hard to keep track.
The album has a few guest artists adding their voices and sounds to tracks; classical pianist Valentina Lisitsa, Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) and K-SLAX amongst others and the record is heavily progressive as well as being extremely heavy at times. The whole thing is very cohesive though, no matter how nuts things get they can always pull it all together, it’s also massive fun with those barmy Nintendo-like noises popping up all over the place and the result is a really uplifting and enjoyable album from start to finish.