Hands - Give Me Rest
Rating
RIYL
GideonLife In Your Way
Isis
Misery Signals
Release Date
07/05/2011
Label
Facedown RecordsTracklist
1. I Will2. Water
3. Cube
4. The Helix
5. Here I Am
6. Jovian
7. Northern Lights
8. 2005
9. Restart
10. Give Me Rest
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If you’ve ventured a little further down the Decoy front page in the past week, you’ll have noticed that Give Me Rest has already batted lead-off in the current Rick’s Discoveries article, and there it garnered some serious love. A quick scan of the blogosphere and zine universe reveals the wider trend of an almost universally high critical appraisal. Now I don’t want to go so far as to say Hands’ latest is unprecedented, but there’s a reason often contrarian music fans have been casting amorous looks Hands’ way, and it may have something to do with the fact that we could be witnessing the first stabs at a post-metalcore movement. (I’m staking my claim on this term here for posterity’s sake; with that out of the way we can return to the review)
Exhibit A: “The Helix.” Hands intertwines wispy, ethereal self-doubt-coated shoegaze with the older, more primal version of Isis, while raw fury and sludgy unrest poke holes in the astral mist, only to be swallowed up before finally tearing free with a gigantic breakdown to conclude the song.
Exhibit B: “Water.” Here Midwestern metalcore forebears and giants Misery Signals loom large, but within this framework the band pulls the boundaries outward to swallow up operatic post-rock and the chunky hardcore-cum-sludge of Brutality Will Prevail, again underscoring the thematic material of the record’s first half, namely a search for faith and affirmation amidst lingering doubts in troubling times.
Exhibits C and D: “Here I Am” and “Jovian.” “Here I Am” is a delay-filled, stirring track that soars to heights of vintage Explosions in the Sky, and “Jovian” is an open-air arena where the initial warring factions of metalcore and post-metal end up self-destructing in a gorgeous haze of lush melody that extends into the seventh track, “Northern Lights.”
What remains probably the most fascinating aspect of Give Me Rest is what a mature, confident work it is despite its subject matter. The turn at “Jovian” signals a second-half long on devotional praise, and even if this isn’t necessarily your outlook, Hands presents their spirituality in a way that is anything but heavy-handed (no pun intended). The unifying concept does much to propel the album, and while you may not need to buy into it as such, to ignore the interplay of the music and lyrics is to miss the point. Besides, given the number of “post-” albums requiring full commitment having already primed a lot of you for this kind of listening experience, the degree of attachment you choose to employ is unlikely to prevent you from seeing the forest through the trees, so to speak.
So we’ve now gone full circle: while you could easily trace Give Me Rest’s bloodline back in time, what makes it so exciting beyond the clear markers of any great record—sequencing, execution, palpable passion to name a few—an internal search for salvation has practically forced Hands and, by extension, their metalcore brethren, forward by fusing sounds in a way seldom seen since the birth of this often-maligned genre. There are plenty of platitudes I could toss out about how these guys know space since there’s ample amounts of it in their native North Dakota, and I suppose I’ve just coyly done that, but the fact of the matter is that by opening their songs up even further from what they’ve played with in the past, they’ve set the bar extremely high for the rest of their peers.
--Jacob Oliver
Comments
Minnesota
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Charlotte, NC
one of my top ten for 2011. Fantastic album! Great band.
"There must be more to this"
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Baton Rouge
Right on. Glad we've finally got a review of this. I feel like a lot of folks (myself included) have been waiting for something to sound like Give Me Rest for a while, and finally someone got it just right. The closest before for me was that Trenches album from 2008, but this takes the ambient and more quiet stuff to a whole new level.
Boobs
http://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/
Illinois
checking this out
last.fm/user/tragedyl0ve
twitter.com/1000cleverlines
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Bayside,NY
checking this out now
San Francisco, CA
just listened to this on the way home from work. fanfuckingtastic. though, the real deep vocals don't always fit imo, but it doesn't take away from it at all
Illinois
i like it. it's not quite a 5-star album for me after first listen, but i'm sure it will grow on me. they kind of remind me of the felix culpa sometimes.
last.fm/user/tragedyl0ve
twitter.com/1000cleverlines
1000cleverlines.tumblr.com
Bogotá, Colombia
This album is freaking delicious. If you liked this I strongly recommend you to check out, if you haven't already, A Hope For Home, whose singer is featured in "Water"... I think. IMO they could also be included in what Jacob calls "post-metalcore movement".
Sorry for my lame english.
lastfm.es/user/carlosIramirez
Reno, NV
I think they combine the deep vocals with the lighter vocals perfectly, as well as the heavy music and softer music, which is one of the strong points of the album for me. Perfectly illustrated in the song Water and Helix, which are two of my favorites. When the hair on the back of my neck stands up I know its good. The lyrics, although not my top priority in music, are moving, even to a atheist such as myself.
Current Listenings:
Psychollywood - Psychollywood
Royal Thunder - Cvi
The Next Hundred Years - Troppo
Kyng - Trampled Sun
Kill Devil Hill - Kill Devil Hill
Fishers, Indiana
This is great. I love how different it is, too. The ambient parts far outshine the heavy parts though, and the cleans need some work.
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Lehigh Valley, PA
OK, I guess it's time for me to give this album another try...
Lehigh Valley, PA
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT BEING MY NORMAL DICKHEAD SELF WHEN I STATE THE FOLLOWING...
Yea, I'm a few songs into this album yet again and I find myself wanting to put something else on. Don't get me wrong, it has so many excellent layers. The low vocals are fantastic and the music itself is decent. I find myself becoming bored very quickly with it though and the clean vocals are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo not doing it for me. Not clean vocals in general, just these. This is about a 2.5 for me right now.
Minnesota
You're just an impatient bastard that only listens to cock rock now, so your opinion on good music is be default invalid :-)
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Lehigh Valley, PA
Rick, you certainly have a lot of merit badges in your signature... nerd.
Minnesota
Dude, that's Uber-Nerd to you!
(and now that you mention it, I need to add my foursquare one...)
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San Borja, Lima, Perú
Listened to this a couple of days ago, it's nice but.. a 5-star album? idk.. I find city of ships a lot more enjoyable, better crafted and original.
I listened to a couple tracks and so far I'm liking it.
Oklahoma
Baton Rouge
Now we'll never know why you vastly underrated this album.
Boobs
http://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/
Fishers, Indiana
And nothing of value was lost.
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West Haven, CT
I love this place.
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.
Minnesota
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Fishers, Indiana
Top Albums: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 || Tumblr | Twitter
Baton Rouge
I just had one of those quick sharp laughs where you throw up in your mouth a little bit. Awesome.
Boobs
http://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/
Edmonton, AB
Excellent album, I love the midwestern wall of sound that pops up from time to time.