REVIEW: Invent Animate - Greyview [2020]
Artist: Invent Animate
Album: Greyview
Light,darkness and illusion have been used metaphorically for the benevolent andwicked (respectively) aspects of human life for eons—at least since Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, wherein shadow wascast to represent those less desirable components of what it means to live.Since Plato’s landmark entry into existential philosophy, shadows have beenexplored further; often castigated, but why?Japanese literary titan Junichiro Tanizake casts more light on this in his 1933work, In Praise of Shadows, where hedescribes that by juxtaposing darkness and gloom, the radiance brought to lifeby light is made that much brighter—thatshadows play a pronounced role in defining the good in life by bringing moreattention to it through contrast. Tanizake—and others—contest that shadows arenot only treated unfairly, but are infact necessary for those good things inlife to be truly good. So when InventAnimate’s long-awaited comeback release opens with “Dark” and the lyrics “I lost my shadow” within, the bandforeshadowed infinitely more than they might have even realized about thethought-provoking, introspective and engaging adventure that is Greyview. To be honest, I’ve struggledwith how best to build this introduction—as Invent Animate’s third full-lengthrelease nearly defies description—toying with themes and emotions until thisone happened to click, but the takeaway is simple: Greyview is everything a progressive metalcore record should be,needs to be and ought to aim for. Beautifully blending harmony, melody andruthless aggression into a melting pot of groove and technicality, InventAnimate return to the scene as if they were never really gone, instantaneouslyreminding the listener why their absence left so many torn asunder.
Progressivemetalcore is a tricky beast to tame—we’ve seen several releases this yearalready throw their hats into thatring, with some doing better than others—but if nothing else, it’s addedintegrity to the notion that to create a truly great progressive metalcore record, a lot of things need to bebalanced near-perfectly. Fortunately for Invent Animate, Greyview manages it all and then some. From the enthrallingatmosphere defining the opening portion of “Dark,” through the blitz that is “ReflectionRoom,” throes of thunderous aggression within “Brightwing” and the stellarconclusion in “Nova,” Invent Animate brilliantly blend technicality,ethereality and aggression, period. PercussionistTrey Celaya nails every song firmly into place with punchy, strong drumming. “ReflectionRoom” puts this on display beautifully, oscillating between speed and punctual,powerful patterns, contrasting a crushing, deep kick drum with bright, splashycymbals. “Nova,” as well as lead single “Cloud Cascade” further showcase Celaya’stalent, especially as the latter brightly blends catchy, dancy patterns withhard-hitting breakdowns, made all the harder by bassist Caleb Sherradan.Sherradan’s bass adds depth and grit throughout Greyview, with “Dark” and “Brightwing”—although oppositely named—worktogether to put that on display. “Brightwing” especially uses Sherradan’s bassand Celaya’s percussion to strike a very careful balance between upliftingmelody and raw, ruthless aggression, oscillating back and forth between the twolike waves during a long, high tide. This contrast, like all of the contrastsdrawn between light and dark, heavy and soft, aggressive and embracing, is defined by Keaton Goldwire’s fretwork. Thereisn’t a single second in a single song that Goldwire doesn’t dazzle thelistener with his skills, be it his raunchy breakdowns or mind-blowingfleetly-fretted riffs. “Hollow Light,” “Dark” and “Halcyon” exemplify this, butas mentioned previously, really allof Greyview does. Goldwire’s guitarwork outshines not only Invent Animate’s peers, but his previous works—a featsome thought impossible given the overwhelming success of Stillworld—and in doing so, lends enormous strength to anunstoppable instrumental experience.
The biggestquestion mark going into Invent Animate’s comeback would be addressing thedeparture of their vocalist Ben English, whose voice had become as much astaple of the band’s dynamic as the stunning guitars or energetic drums. InEnglish’s wake, there was worry and concern—and as it works out, it was largelyfor naught. Greyview sees frontmanMarcus Vik stepping up to the plate, and not only does he fill massive shoes, he sets a new precedentfor the band in the process. From “Dark” to “Nova,” Vik’s vocals are nothingshort of incredible, and the images he provides with his lyrics are second tonone. Ranging from musing on the metaphysical and philosophical to tales ofintrospective self-doubt and depression, Greyviewsees Vik channeling many of the elements English did perfectly while adding hisown flair. Take “Reflection Room,” for example—where Vik’s grisly low screamscontrast his shrill, high mainstay style. “Brightwing” is another, where hisvocals run the low-to-high gamut while including harshly belted sections ofsinging to provide even more depth and contrast. Finally, “Shapeshifter,”featuring Silent Planet’s Garrett Russell, is mesmerizing from start to finish,boasting an extremely catchy chorussandwiched by Vik and Russel raising hell over spastic, jarring breakdowns.While I feel it’s safe to say that Greyviewis Invent Animate’s heaviest offering (at least since Everchanger), that doesn’t hamper Vik’s ability to be a dynamicjuggernaut, using soothing singing (“Dark”), grisly bellows (“Brightwing”) andreally everything in between to make Greyviewas captivating vocally as it is instrumentally.
As someonewho has kept up with Invent Animate since Waves,I knew I was going to like Greyview,but I have a confession—I didn’t think I would put it at the same level as Stillworld. While the band hasestablished a primitive trend of one-upping their previous releases with eachnew record, the amount of type and hype surrounding Greyview’s unveiling led me to believe it wouldn’t hit me the sameway. I’ve honestly never been happier to admit I was wrong. Greyview doesn’t just one-up Stillworld, it makes it look like child’splay. Everything there is to love about Invent Animate has been distilled,concentrated and re-expounded upon ten thousand fold throughout Greyview’s near-hour duration. Heavierthan ever before, yet all the more beautiful and captivating, Invent Animatehave contributed a record I consider to be a bastion of progressive metalcore—arecord that not only all others in the genre will be compared against, but arecord that brings life and—yeah, color—toheavy music as a whole.
10/10
For Fans Of: Northlane, Currents, Silent Planet, SpiritBreaker
By: Connor Welsh