The Saddest Landscape – You will Not Survive

Whether you are slowly making your way through Thomas Pynchon’s convoluted opus, Gravity’s Rainbow or you are marveling at Salvador Dali’s Freudian mindscape, The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory the universal goal behind these two works is singular and it is this; art should always challenge its audience to step outside the comfort zone and examine themselves within the context of a given work. Once this is established it becomes our job to find meaning within disparate works based on our own subjective experiences, and as willing participants. We help bring life and meaning to what might merely be described as meaningless symbols, in other words we become part of the process of creating art. Now, I know you are wondering what all this has to do with, The Saddest Landscape’s latest LP You Will Not Survive, my reply is this, everything. Like any other art form, music requires from us the same willingness to focus inward. In other words this is not something you would pop in on the way to the club or the beach. This album is bleak, heartfelt, and solemn; so here is why you should bother listening to it.

The  Saddest Landscape continue to expand upon their unique mix of old school emo coupled with a post rock aesthetic; tormented vocals and solid instrumentation remains intact. The guitar playing is top notch. Both guitarists manage to remain both subtle and technical without having to be the focal point, except during the aforementioned post rock meanderings. They create a minimalistic, dark, and foreboding atmosphere with some use of distortion for added effect. The ambient/post rock sections  become interesting asides; as they help flesh out the melodic yet discordant dynamic without coming off as boring, self indulgent, cheesy or unwarranted. As with many other bands the unsung hero here is the drummer who does a great job, unfortunately there is the tendency to meld in with the rest of the music.  One important caveat, over 90 percent of the vocals are screamed intermixed with some spoken monologues. Therefore, if you hate screaming keep an open mind and check them out before you buy anything.  Caveat aside the vocals are great and the screaming is completely justified; especially in relation to the subject matter, which could be best described as saturnine. The vocals overall are well done and help to create a sense of urgency, while at the same time expressing an underlying feelings of anguish and vulnerability. On to the lyrics; overall The Saddest Landscape are more concerned with creating a flowing and consistent narrative, rather than focusing on metaphors similes or general wordplay. The emphasis is placed on sustaining the imagery and painting a picture in the minds of anyone who listens to the album.  The three standout tracks would have to be, “Declaring War On Nostalgia”, “Imperfect But Ours” and “So Lightly Thrown” as each track thematically deals with feelings of isolation, abandonment, and loss in a vivid a descriptive way. For example this is taken from, “Declaring War On Nostalgia”;

I just want to go back to where we didn’t have to drink ourselves to sleep back where our dreams didn’t weigh us down, back to where each day didn’t feel like something we just survive.

And this is an excerpt taken from, “So Lightly Thrown”;

This is what happens when two disposable souls fall in love
Can’t you see this is killing us?

The lyrics can seem melodramatic at times, but they are written this way to contribute to the essence of the album. The lyrics never stray into groan inducing territory that so many bands within the genre tend to haplessly fall into.  As a whole, the album has a refined rawness to it and manages to sound excellent without feeling disingenuous or overproduced.

You Will Not Survive is a dark, haunting, cathartic, and beautiful album that is easily one of the best releases of 2010. These assertions may seem puzzling or hyperbolic to some, but the synthesis of inspired lyrics, dejected vocals, and impressive instrumentation; this is definitely a must buy for fans of passionate and emotive music. One last note this album should not just be seen as an encomium to misery, because that is not what the music is trying to get at. Ultimately, this album is just as much about longing for the past as it is getting over it.