{"id":39416,"date":"2018-03-15T19:20:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T19:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-greyhaven-empty-black\/"},"modified":"2018-04-02T13:24:17","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T13:24:17","slug":"review-greyhaven-empty-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-greyhaven-empty-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Review:\u00a0Greyhaven – Empty Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A lot of metalcore nowadays is all about how hard you can hit a breakdown. The sound of open stringed chugging has dominated the genre for almost a decade now, becoming the defining aspect of a genre that only every so often produces something genuinely exciting. There are<\/i> some artists pushing back, however, easing off the breakdown pedal and incorporating elements from other genres, and often dubbed as \u201cprogressive\u201d within the confines of metalcore. This is where Kentucky\u2019s Greyhaven<\/b> sits with their sophomore record, \u2018Empty Black\u2019<\/i>.<\/p>\n

This album is chaos in a leather jacket. Fans of Every Time I Die will feel at home with ‘Empty Black\u2019<\/i>, as the southern-metal inspired riffs and vocal melodies hit with crushing ferocity on opening track ‘Sweet Machine\u2019<\/i>. The song sets a precedent, with its frantic verses and sweeping choruses that dominate every subsequent track.<\/p>\n

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A few moments on ‘Empty Black\u2019<\/i> seek to calm the madness, with the intro to ‘Echos and Dust Pt.1\u2019<\/i> and the intriguing blend of alt- and hard-rock on ‘Day Is Gone\u2019<\/i> providing some breathing room. It\u2019s these instances, as well as the big choruses, that prop the album up so well, preventing it from blurring into one huge mess.<\/p>\n