The Saddest Landscape
Darkness Forgives

Many times it's useless to rack one's brains in search of complex and imaginatively elaborated solutions. We need to dust off and reread the logical principles behind Occam's razor and the job is done. All things being equal, the simplest explanation is to be preferred. That's all, folks. Not much has ever been asked of screamo. Think about it. Whether we're talking about Funeral Diner, Jerome's Dream, or Amanda Woodward, just to name three bands that interpret it in a completely personal way, there's always a subtle common line that distinguishes them. You can find it in the three groups I just mentioned, but also in all the others devoted to a DIY attitude and aware of finding in screamo the perfect solution, not so much to showcase meticulous technical qualities, but rather to exorcise inner demons through the schizophrenic flow of melodies capable of being soaked in tears and sweat. Yes, Winston Churchill listened to Pg.99 if you're wondering. In simple terms, without unnecessarily beating around the bush, to what elementary notion am I referring? Well, the key is passion. Does it sound redundant? I'll grant you that. Especially at the dawn of 2015, citing such concepts seems like being a musician from another era or just starting out, but screamo feeds, breathes, and lives on passion. It cannot be sterile. By definition, there must be an emotional component. Actually, let's add a "strong". A strong emotional component. Here come onto the scene from Massachusetts, moreover a fertile ground for such a matter, The Saddest Landscape. All the lights that exiled the last gasps have gone out ("After the Lights" from 2012), and now there is only darkness that envelops and forgives: "Darkness Forgives."

I don't want to keep you on the edge of your seat, as it feels right to reveal immediately where I'm getting at. "Darkness Forgives" is a gem for which we must thank Topshelf (and also curse them due to the delay in releasing the vinyl - but that's another story). Of course, The Saddest Landscape needs no explanation. They are cornerstones of the early 2000s American scene, but here, perhaps, after so many years, refining their sound little by little, tweak after tweak, they have been able to express themselves to their fullest potential. The recipe is as essential as it is hard to achieve for those who do not possess the right ingredients, but these East Coast guys, they know very well what they're doing. Or rather, The Saddest Landscape, while remaining faithful to the underground, have paved the way for the new generation that wants to dabble in screamo and post-hardcore. It is not surprising that therefore "Darkness Forgives" is a perfectly oiled mechanism that, once unleashed, is a constant acceleration between introspective scenarios and furious melodies devoted to saturating your blood with adrenaline coursing through your veins. There is no cosmic pessimism à la Leopardi. There is no fierce and unconditional surrender. The Saddest Landscape are nostalgically hopeful. There's even room to commemorate friends who are no longer with us, as seen in the dedication to the prematurely departed Jason Rosenthal in "‘Til Our Ears Bleed". Here, I stop, because in these four and a half minutes, the meaning of what The Saddest Landscape's music is condenses. Truly. Listen to it and you will understand what I am referring to. There are no wrenching and cryptically unrecognizable screams. Andy Maddox recites the lyrics with an insecurity that gradually gives way to a voice that, gaining courage, drags in the midst of the instrumental chaos that holds together his outpour. A sort of disjointed spoken word crosses paths with a torment that more than once takes its rightful time, breaking the otherwise uncontrollable frenzy that The Saddest Landscape can produce. Thoughts are gathered, amid roaring escalations and shudders of fragile guitars that prevail over hardcore's irrationality.

The autumn period surrounding the release of "Darkness Forgives" is damn well-suited. It is a perfect fit, as the mood and the atmosphere permeating it are comparable to seasonal shifts and changes. The autumn with its chromatic contrasts is the right metaphor for the variety that The Saddest Landscape offers, trying with all their might to oppose their own moniker (which, to be honest, derives from the Little Prince). It is not an exasperation declaring failure, but rather it is aimed at finding a light in the most complete darkness, just as the cover well exemplifies. There, in the insecurities and fears of a night where one is alone, one must always carry something that can help overcome difficulties and obstacles. A glow that illuminates and tries to clarify the undefined that surrounds us in everyday life. This is what The Saddest Landscape's songs talk about. They narrate about going beyond unforeseen adversities, and in this, the warmth of the melodies that warm the most intrepid and agitated moments of "Darkness Forgives" are an essential reminder. A fire that burns and tirelessly does not want to die. One can get burned, certainly, but it heals and reacts. The alarming intertwining weaves and shakes, hitting the target with ease, in the obsessive throbbing of the shards that The Saddest Landscape brandishes. And with this is all, because "Darkness Forgives" is special, but created without flashy architectures and ostentatious embellishments. It is raw. It is visceral. It is lived. It is screamo.