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Hundredth - Let Go

Rating

RIYL

Counterparts
Life in Your Way
It Prevails
Comeback Kid

Release Date

09/27/2011

Label

Mediaskare

Tracklist

01. Let Go
02. Weathered Town
03. Live Today
04. We Can Take Them All
05. Carry On
06. Humane
07. Remain & Sustain
08. Monumental Part I
09. Monumental Part II
10. I Hold The Key
11. Restless
12. Soul
13. Hurt

Users Rating 4 ratings	Your Rating Create an account or log in to rate this album
Recent Ratings
totzine	Rick Gebhardt
Dylan Newell	Bill Lohr

Bands change, sometime drastically. It’s a fact of life. In the beginning of the year, The Decemberists went country on our asses with The King is Dead. Moving Mountains went alt. rock on our asses with Waves. And La Dispute’s new direction on Wildlife has left us scratching our heads and smoothing out our goosebumps. And it’s apparent Hundredth have changed; one listen to Let Go is enough, but Hundredth’s evolution is more subtle. It’s neither a genre shift nor a change in tone. Having put a few spins of Let Go under my belt, when I listen to When We Will Surrender now, it feels hollow, like the melody incumbent in each track isn’t quite realized. Each song has potential, but is staid, stiff and demure.

In that respect, Let Go will absolutely spoil you. Hundredth have brought the melody back to melodic hardcore in a big way. Every last one of the album’s thirteen tracks feature an underpinning of solid guitar leads that take the edge off the harsh vocals and heavy riffage. The effect it creates is almost an inherent warmth, and combined with Hundredth’s characteristic positivity, it certainly isn’t jarring or unwelcome. The line from “Monumental Pt. II” that goes, “When will we change? When will we see who we’re living for? Are you living for yourself or something greater? It’s in your hands, be the creator,” deserves the warmth Hundredth imbue it with, especially following the recorded sermon from C.S. Lewis on “Monumental Pt. I.”

The final few tracks are probably the most telling of Hundredth’s evolution, breaking out of the tired (but oh so rewarding) hardcore molds much of the earlier tracks were cut from. “Restless,” a standout and emotionally taxing track, includes a long, almost whispered bridge, sung by As Cities Burn’s Cody Bonnette. “Slow fade out. Sun, burn and stay out. Clouds close like a mouth, around last light and sound,” he sings, as drums pound, chants enter, and the guitar leads simmer, “Don’t bother, save your breath. Could be the last you get.” At the moment the urgency peaks, Hundredth’s Chadwick Johnson tags in, screaming, “Am I jaded to the point where I can’t see all of the beauty Your hands made: the world surrounding me? I’m scared of what has come, and what is to be. My heavy heart, the earth will cover me.” It’s a turbulent, challenging and mature song, and its subject matter is equally as such.

The following track, “Soul,” brings an extra dimension of crushing heaviness to the mix before unleashing a frenetic, churning bridge, that is swept away like shoreline shacks in a hurricane of a song-ending breakdown. The final track, “Hurt,” which probably counts as a “hidden track,” buried behind four minutes of silence, is an uphill climb with spare instrumentation, showcasing the facets of Johnson’s screams before the characteristic leads bleed in, followed by a chorus of gang vocals to close the album.

As competent and satisfying as Hundredth has made the stock-standard melodic hardcore that populates the first half of Let Go, it’s the nods toward creativity and progression toward the back that are most indicative of the places this young quintet will go. Let Go is a logical progression for Hundredth sure to please the old fans while bringing in countless more. Having navigated the uncertain seas of sophomore slump, from here, there’s nowhere to go but up for Hundredth.

--Zach Roth

Author

Zach Roth

Last updated: 10/19/2011 11:41AM

Comments

Bill Lohr

10/19/2011

11:51AM

Age: 28

Location
Lehigh Valley, PA

Very good review, Zach.

Dylan Newell

10/19/2011

12:27PM

Age: 22

Location
Illinois

pretty enjoyable record. "remain & sustain" is probably my favorite track lyrically and musically.

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jamoncito

10/19/2011

01:22PM

Age: 23

Location
Los Angeles

This is really, really good. Only reason I checked it out was because the album cover was appealing. Sometimes that's enough, because the RIYL wasn't.