Blacklisted, Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God
Featured Album
A harrowing hardcore dark night of the soul
The character on the cover of the second full-length record from Philadelphia hardcore band Blacklisted is perched on the edge of a pier, arms stretched, about to take that long final plunge into the black. That single image reflects the whole of Heavier's pummel and scrape, the kind of blind despair that leads first to panic and then to bitter self-destruction. "I feel hopeless when I just wish I could feel a little less," hollers vocalist George Hirsch just seconds into the record, and his hoarse edict functions as a statement of purpose. As the record progresses, he damns friends, family, Jesus and, above all, himself, each damnation delivered in the same searing, strangled howl. What saves Heavier from being a long sob in the mosh pit is its force and — above all — its brevity. Songs are in and out in 70 seconds, feeling more like sharp, sudden gut-punches than full-blown bloody brawls. "I Am Weighing Me Down" could be ramped-up In Utero-era Nirvana, grim riffs grinding like blown gears in an old combine. The whole back half — from "Matrimony" to "Wish" — goes off like a fistful of firecrackers in an old coffee can, one long blast of epileptic white noise. "Just want to love myself! Just want to love myself!" Hirsch screams over tommy-gunning guitars. He'll never get there, of course — he'll just stay paused and poised on the pier forever.
