Memorial - The Creative Process / Berlin

Memorial - The Creative Process / Berlin
Flight Plan Records

For those of you still mourning the breakup of Quicksand, or, more recently, Renee Heartfelt, can fill that empty void in your music collection with this new LP from Memorial. From the crushing opening riffs of "Who Are We To Say?" it's obvious that this is heavy post-hardcore with a melodic side. It's not unlike the aforementioned bands, particular with the familiar crooning of Pete Applebee.

Aside from the headbanging of the opening track, these eight songs vacillate between heavy riffage and softer, slower songs with a lot more swirling atmosphere. "Sideways" is a nice midtempo rocker with lots of dynamic changes, lead by Pete's voice, which I love. The song builds and fades well, giving it an epic feel that flows through the whole album. Every song paints a vivid picture and is well crafted to give it a feeling.

The opening vocals and guitar on "Spades" are catchy and get stuck in your head as soon as you listen to it, before speeding up and building. This faster track leads right into "The Creative Process," which is the first slower song of the album, with layered guitar tracks, and huge dynamics. Definitely a crushing song.

The Berlin half of the record continues with an even more epic sound, lead off by the shortest track on the record ("Berlin"), and the possibly the heaviest riffage ("1933"). It's nice to see that the B-side of the this doesn't slow down or get weaker; instead, it seems to get better as it goes on. There are more acoustic guitars and quiet/loud transitions, which showcase pounding drums, creative guitar work, and Applebee's great voice.

It's taken forever for this to come out, and I'm still waiting for my screened pre-order, but this is definitely a strong debut for these guys, sure to get a ton of spins from Quicksand devotees and people hankerin' for another Renee Heartfelt record.