From the ashes of bands from the Philadelphia hardcore scene, a new band was born. Its name is Colossal Rains, and, as the name suggests, they bring a massive sound that is destined to leave a mark on the ground. It’s not so usual to find a record that keeps you glued to the speakers from the first track to the last, but when it happens, you could listen to it several times a day without getting annoyed. Today, we’re delving into the first LP of this quartet from Philly: Feral Sorrow by Colossal Rains.

Although some of the band members have a past in Hardcore bands from the Philadelphia scene like Blacklisted, this record takes that power and compresses it into a slow and massive new sound. Feral Sorrow is a debut album that keeps its experience inside; Post-Hardcore sounds blend with Sludge and Alternative to create a work that is pretty solid and engaging.

Compared to traditional Hardcore, this work is slower and more atmospheric, but it still manages to convey the power of a Hardcore song. Slow and massive riffs, powerful drums and an abrasive voice manage to create a blend that lets your head move slowly but constantly for the next 31 minutes.

The seven tracks are well crafted, and every song is the natural continuation of the previous one. Approaching the record, the first track we listen to is “Deadlights”, maybe the most Hardcore-style song of the tracklist. Afterwards “Agony Bells” welcomes us with a strong bassline: then, the abrasive but melodic voice brings us immediately to the main part to compose this song that seems to talk about a person that, due to a disease, has started to suffer too early in life: “Downcast, I don’t doubt that / There’s no way to change it /Wet sand in our hour glass / Still time keeps aching”. As we move through the record, we find other massive tunes like “Entombed City” and “Pirouettes”. However, this one opens with a clean arpeggio reminiscent of the intro to a 90s doom song. “Silent Trigger” is the slowest song on the album and perhaps one of the most emotional, thanks to its opening part and vocals which are still abrasive, but more reverberant, and the guitars play without drums.

Then we come to the last song: “Flowers On A Landmine”. The title of this song speaks for itself, picturing an image of something beautiful that springs out from an instrument of war that mostly kills innocents. As Gee Hirsch sings: “Through the razor wire / You’re forced to blossom and bloom / Oh through the rain and fire / You’re forced to blossom and bloom”.

All the themes on this record are pessimistic and introspective, with a large gaze on disillusion and psychological heaviness. These themes, along with the musical structure, create an interesting blend that in some parts could resemble bands like Neurosis, Crowbar and even Alice in Chains.

The atmosphere, created with the sound heaviness and the intense vocal performance, brings a record that evolves the musical identity of the band members, maintaining their past in the roots of this music. Surely Feral Sorrow will be on my AOTY list at the end of this year.