When it comes to French musical exports, offerings of a heavier ilk have always been rather thin on the ground. The nu-metal sextet Pleymo enjoyed a bit of a continental boost from their inclusion in the European version of Rock Band back in 2008 (but not until after the band had called a hiatus that has not seen a reunion since), but aside from them, and of course the giants of Gojira as well, there are next to no acts from the more raucous end of the spectrum that have really landed in a British audience. With new album ‘We Are’, however, the Metz-based four-piece My Only Scenery are looking to join that exclusive club.
In the post-hardcore scene that Britain likes to think it does so well, the quartet certainly fit right in. Opening track ‘The Second Breath’ has a caged lion feel to it, and even when the chorus explodes into life you sense there’s more to come. The second half of the piece is when My Only Scenery really burst into life, with quick fire bursts of energy and a killer vocal-guitar combo the driving force behind the track’s strength. ‘Pagan’s Horizon’ and ‘We Are The Walkers’ are similarly intense, with the latter of the two bringing all the energy of Mastodon meets At The Drive-In; the raw power behind the vocals of Yoan Antignac adding to the massive sound that the French outfit send forth as ‘We Are’ really finds its feet. The seven minute epic of ‘Glass Girl Skeleton’ is a back and forth number; the slow build only serving to make the crescendos hit even harder when the band really lets loose. It’s a tactic that worked so well for Deafhaven and We Never Learned to Live on their 2013 releases, and it’s good to see My Only Scenery revisit the technique and absolutely nail the recipe for a strong lengthy track that never even begins to outstay its welcome.
‘The Perfect Crime’ is another slow burn track, but the record’s half-way point is met with the same explosive composition that has made ’We Are’ such an impressive debut album thus far. The band manage to slip an instrumental piece into the middle of the record without making it sound like an interlude or filler piece, proving that My Only Scenery can pull off a thunderous effort with or without the vocals of Antignac driving them on. When the frontman’s lungs make their resurgence on ‘Birds and Crosses’ however, the reunion of his towering lyrics with the band’s equally huge-sounding instrumental backing brings back My Only Scenery at their most vicious. ‘Brothers In Harm’ is no less of a powerhouse. “Listen, we deserve much more attention,” gasps Antignac in one of the band’s more muted moments, and taken out of context it becomes a highly agreeable statement of the exposure that the quartet certainly do deserve. Boasting a rib-shaking band of post-hardcore that British audiences can never seem to get enough of, My Only Scenery certainly have the tools to grow into the role of international bastions of the scene. ‘Bee’ is a last dose of the French act’s ability to really build a track from the ground up, but ‘We Are’ isn’t done without two more piledrivers. ‘Lords of the Cold Wars’ is a bone-jarring highlight that isn’t given nearly enough time to really shine as the album’s penultimate track. It’s ‘Cabin Fever’ that closes the album out; an outro track that could be appreciated as the record’s final flourish if it wasn’t for the fleeting thought that it’s two and a half minutes that could have been used far better in doubling the length of its preceding track. ‘Lords of the Cold Wars’ could have provided a far better last memory of ‘We Are’ than the gradual fadeout of ‘Cabin Fever’, and the reality is an unfortunate hiccup at the end of an otherwise near faultless album.
My history tutor at university would always go on about the ingrained discord between Britain and France. Honestly, it would be far easier to agree if France weren’t so damned good when it comes to their musical offerings. My Only Scenery are, simply put, purveyors of a sound that can’t be praised enough. Certainly when it comes to this particular quartet, France have an act that can give any British or American post-hardcore band a serious run for their money.
4.5/5
‘We Are’ by My Only Scenery is out now ON M&O Music.
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Words by Antony Lusmore (@Metacosmica)
