Greyhaven – This Bright and Beautiful World (Review)

This is the third album from Greyhaven, a hardcore band from the US.

Greyhaven play a form of modern post-hardcore that takes influence from a range of places. On the one hand they clearly follow the Every Time I Die template of hardcore, with raucous heaviness mixed with emotive cleanly-sung sections. On the other hand though, they also follow a sort of progressive post-hardcore route, with well-constructed songcraft that speaks of surprising near-pop sensibilities, (think this aspect of The Dillinger Escape Plan).

Of course, the above is only a simplistic description of Greyhaven’s sound as a brief introduction to it. The reality is that the band merge their influences into tight balls of fury and beauty. Chaotic heaviness is certainly part of Greyhaven’s sound, but so is thoughtful displays of emotion, a keen melodic edge, and an ability to craft soaring choruses that hit hard.

The short songs are lively and full of good songwriting. Greyhaven merge the violence of angular chaotic hardcore with the catchy hooks of post-hardcore well. The songs can be raging tempests of anger one moment, and beautiful exemplars of emotive presence the next. The band clearly know what they’re doing with the style. As well as the aforementioned bands, I can also hear echoes of acts such as Zao and The Ocean in some of the clean singing sections, as well as Converge in some of the guitars.

So basically, if you miss the glorious combination of the chaotic and the melodic that ETID and TDEP did so well, yet don’t want a pale imitation that sags under the weight of its own influences, make sure you check out This Bright and Beautiful World. Greyhaven have impressed.