Blacklisted - When People Grow, People Go (Album Review)
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Written by Huw Baines
Too often, the concept of heaviness is reduced to simple, bro-headed terms, implying not a sense of dread or sustained atmosphere but a decision to bow to pit pressure. Blacklisted, though, have always resisted the urge to cater solely to base desires. On 'When People Grow, People Go', they continue to write their own rules.
There is a suffocating, dense mood at work here, one that seeps from George Hirsch's intense lyrics and underpins Will Yip's satisfyingly raw, groove-oriented production.
While it does not dispense with the experimental grunge influence of ‘No One Deserves to Be Here More Than Me’ entirely, it does mesh it with a back-to-basics hardcore approach, something that will delight those who fell under the spell of 'Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God'.
There are breakdowns to knock you from your feet just as there are riffs, notably on Bottle Rockets, that will grab you by the hips.
Hirsch's contribution is huge. One of hardcore's most expressive vocalists, he again brings a degree of rock swagger along with the fury.
Lyrically, he runs rings around his subjects, and himself, eloquently laying out frustrations, unpicking the duplicity of others and seemingly pulling apart his art. That these words are driven by a very real struggle against depression makes 'When People Grow, People Go' a cathartic experience and also a powerful example of communication and understanding through music. The deeper Hirsch goes, the deeper we go with him.
"Admired for weaving words together, riddled in rhyme," he barks on Foreign Observer. "Little do they know I can barely live inside my body most of the time."
Brutal, uncompromising and intelligent, Blacklisted remain a cut above most of the competition.
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