

vote
7.0
- Band:
Askysoblack - Duration: 00:26:00
- Available from: 31/01/2025
- Label:
-
New Morality Zine
The Askysoblacks come to the debut on the long distance with “Touch Heaven”, an album that does not detach much from the coordinates of the post-hardcore contaminated by strong shoegaze influences and alternatives nineties which, through a pair of EP released in the last three/four Years, he made them a name to keep an eye on in this specific panorama. Coming from Philadelphia, the four musicians on this occasion further limit the most heavy parenthesis and build a particularly compact and atmospheric work, in which the contrast between dense, voluminous and reverberated guitars and the ethereal and afflicted voice of the guitarist/singer Jordan Shteif Create a constant tension, never completely resolved.
The disc develops through a uniform tracklist for atmospheres and durability: short and intense songs that do not seek sudden steering or excessive variations, but rather an incessant immersion in their sound world. The reference points are more or less always the usual for formations of this specific subgenre: the references to the Defones, the Smashing Pumpkins and the Hums are evident, while the more gritty side can be linked to bands such as Hopesfall. In all this, the recent lesson imparted by contemporary groups such as Fleshwater and Superheaven should not be forgotten, who are revisiting this style obtaining some success both on the critic and public front. In any case, that of the Askysoblack is not only pure quotationism in the bitter end: at least at times, the quartet manages to insert a personal lyricism and some actually contagious hooks in the pieces that distinguishes them at least in part from the many projects that move on tracks similar.
Among the best moments of “Touch Heaven”, songs such as “I Wish I was not”, “You Sit Useless” and “Carousel House” stand out, who perfectly condense the poetics of the band: noisy riffs, melodies with fine grain and a dialogue /Punctual contrast with vocal lines that seem to float in the void. Shteif's voice is almost always sinuous and melancholic, and only in rare moments do you allow some more scratchy hints, making even more evident the feeling of an inner conflict never really exploded.
From the point of view of production, the disc opts for a stratified and enveloping sound, with a measured use of effects that amplify the ethereal dimension of guitars. This approach, if on the one hand the sense of immersion increases, on the other perhaps risks flattening some traces, which struggle to emerge compared to others. Despite the undoubted stylistic coherence, a greater variety of footprints and registers, even in the structures, would have benefited the final result, avoiding the feeling of déjà-vu which at times insinuates itself into listening. However, you feel you are satisfied, you want because we still talk about a first full-length, but also and above all because “Touch Heaven” does not claim to be a revolutionary work. It is a solid work, honest in the references and at the same time capable of giving moments of great emotional intensity, affecting the sign especially on gray and melancholy days, in which its suspended and poignant atmospheres find the most fertile ground to take root. In short, the Askysoblacks confirm that they have a certain talent and a well -defined musical vision: now it remains to be seen if in the next works they will further refine their formula, adding a touch of greater personality that makes them truly essential in the genre.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM