“Acoria The Indulgent” starts with typical black metal tremolo riffing, which is soon completed by accentuated blast beats and harsh screams. There’s definitely some DSBM hidden within the harmonics and melodies of this opening track, but Laudare also prove their shoegazey intentions with ambient clean vocals and a great bass line. Together, these elements create a very atmospheric section. The band show that they truly know how to modulate their harmonies, transfroming them through uncommon time signatures into very dark, devastating soundscapes. On top of the instrumental, there are these desperate shouts that deliver a very emotional and sensitive, perhaps even fragile, intimate feeling.
Laudare celebrate their great contrasts, which meander between ethereal post-rock sections, gritty post-black metal, and slightly proggy transitions. “Acoria The Indulgent” stays purely instrumental for quite a while in its clean section, truly taking their sweet time to let it rise and build up tension slowly. The drumming also adds some light details and intricate rhythm components. It all points towards the tension reaching its peak, which leads back into post-black metal shredding and heavy-hitting blast beats. Accompanied by the powerful shouts, we’re thrown back into the same DSBM vibes that were already present in the song’s very beginning. Oh, how well this track is composed, with its inner dramaturgy and dynamics! Laudare didn’t simply write another post-black metal/blackgaze record here – they truly delivered some great songwriting and composition, and we’re just one song in!
“Mania The Virtuous” begins with a slight swancore vibe, clean guitar action, and some wild drums. This time around, the shouts stand in contrast to the overall clean instrumental, adding great energy to the song’s powerful atmosphere. Similarly dynamic as its predecessor, the song builds up tension through its great transitions. “Mania The Virtuous” is basically a screamo song throughout; it doesn’t feature too many black metal elements, but still delivers a good diversity. Anyway, the common thread is post-rock, as becomes evident within the song’s calmer section, where the guitars play unisono, only surrounded by some ambient sounds. This section is based on simple guitar work, which is placed on this cold void of atmosphere while trying to bring in some warmer feelings. Indeed, this gives the listener a small pause in anticipation of what is to come with “Exodus The Wayward”, the last track on this rather short record.
This last song also starts with this subtle tension of atmosphere and clean guitars. As soon as the other instruments come in, Laudare shroud their sound in doomy, powerful post-metal. Given the slow pace, this song focuses even more on its emotional setting, while slowing down more and more as time goes by. Once again, the simplicity within Laudare’s music is underlined, although the band didn’t necessarily take the easiest ways to achieve this. For example, they chose some uncommon time signatures for their mesmerizing clean parts. The warm bass sound creates a drone that fills the spaces between the continuous guitar melodies, while some spoken vocals add some spice to the ambiance. Laudare like to play with dynamics, and know how to use them to tickle the listener’s fancy at all times. You never know when the band is supposed to break out of the calmer sections, and yet it’s absolutely clear that there will be a proper climax, crowning the foregoing atmospheric build-up with the right amount of catharsis.
More and more tension arises as soon as the shouts start again, but are interrupted by clean singing, which leads to another unexpected part. Finally we get another black metal section with wild blast beats and a punishing drive. “Exodus The Wayward” barrages you with its initial power and raw post-metal energy, but it also rounds off Have Heart, Waste Flesh in an emotional way, leaving the listener behind with nothing left to wish for.
All things considered, Have Heart, Waste Flesh is a great experience, one that definitely profits from listening to it front to back. The three songs are linked together, and all work with different approaches and influences, culminating in the sound Laudare deliver. Fans of screamo, blackgaze, and post-rock should not sleep on this release – it is truly a hidden gem, one you probably have been searching for!
