SeeYouSpaceCowboy are a fairly young band from San Diego, California, comprised of guitarists Jesse Price and Taylor Allen, vocalist Connie Sgarbossa, and drummer Ethan Sgarbossa. They have put three EPs behind them in the three years since their inception; The Correlation Between Entrance and Exit Wounds was just recently released, and it’s much better than what we could’ve expected, considering what it was preceded by.
The Correlation Between Entrance and Exit Wounds isn’t exactly a pure breed record. It is a uniform blend of late 00’s metalcore, screeching vocal lines, and heavy guitar dissonances specific to mathcore, along with some emo/screamo tinges here and there. The album makes good use of all the things it incorporates – there is virtually no filler material across its entire runtime. Every little space and increment is wisely plotted.
The record’s dynamic is also quite nuanced. It’s not your typical abrasive, bludgeoning trip from start to finish. Most of the melodic elements and the more laid-back segments are scattered throughout the relentless barrage of chugs and screeches in a refreshingly balanced manner. Of course, there are a few songs that are solely pounding grit, and we’re even treated to some of those classic ‘heavy riff from earlier comes back, but slower and heavier’ moments, which I’ll leave to each and every one of you to discover.
“Armed With Their Teeth”, along with “With High Hopes and Clipped Wings” and “Disdain Coupled With A Wide Smile”, open up the album guns blazing, bursting at the seams with a ferocious energy. “Prolonging The Inevitable Forever”, “Put On A Show, Don’t Let Them See You Fall”, and “Dissertation of An Idle Voice” follow in the openers’ footsteps, laying down a fiery blaze with a pounding attitude. In these songs it is most transparent how SeeYouSpaceCowboy draw from late 00’s metalcore, more in structure and delivery rather than anything else.
Of course, the empty spaces are laden, as mentioned earlier, with a hearty dose of dissonant lead guitars and madly visceral screeched vocals. In “Put On A Show, Don’t Let Them See You Fall”, right as it heads into its breakdown, I couldn’t help but notice how strongly that section resembles the breakdown from Lamb of God‘s “11th Hour”. I really dig that, and I honestly hope it’s some form of tribute.
“A Space Marked “Escape”” serves as an instrumental passage that gives the listener just a little breathing space if it’s needed. It is very laid back, with just a few notes gliding between the distant-sounding drums that are adorned with widely crashing cymbals. “Have You Lost The Plot?” more or less follows it up as a second interlude, so to say. Although it’s less of a breather and more of an agitator and diversifier, since it is seventy-nine seconds of guitar feedback and errant noise.
“Late December” and “The Phoenix Must Reset”, and maybe even a bit from “Prolonging the Inevitable Forever” feature most of what constitutes the emo/screamo component that is blended into the album; it gives way for a more nuanced portrayal of the anger and despair that is conveyed throughout. All of these things are aptly contoured by the production value of the record. It isn’t stellar per se, but it does the job very well, and that’s all that matters.
I would argue that this isn’t the most original record out there. There’s basically an entire decade’s worth of music that runs through the various forms of all the ‘core’-themed things that we hear. However, the fact that SeeYouSpaceCowboy‘s debut is historically redundant isn’t the center of the discussion, because The Correlation Between Entrance and Exit Wounds is a solid record and doesn’t really fall short in any aspect. I’m certain that (much like me) a whole lot of people will get at least a good few kicks out of this record. Did I also mention it’s a very promising debut album? It is very much so; go listen to it now!
