Embodyment

Item: Hold Your Breath
Author: Treble Bandoppler

Hold Your Breath

(2001)

Reviewed by Treble Bandoppler

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Label Solid State RecordsHM Magazine #91September/October 2001

alternative metal emo melodic rock post-hardcore

Sean Corbray is not a natural screamer. Past Embodyment live shows have illustrated this fact painfully well, and lead one to believe that the periodic shrieking wails on The Narrow Scope of Things had to be layered quite a bit to sound as good as they did. It is also quite possible that Sean's actual singing on Narrow Scope suffered from shredded vocal chords forced to do something they did not want to do. So, it is no surprise that Embodyment's latest, completely melodic (no screaming whatsoever) hard rock release is markedly well sung. Sean's soulful voice feels healthy and comfortable, and traces each note like a pro. However, the question of whether he can repeat the recorded performance live is still up in the air. Let's hope so.

Embodyment is still chasing its low-end new metal dream with Hold Your Breath, and maintaining an anxious, heavy, brooding mood, but the songs feel more focused, more engaged with choruses and the pursuit of organic emotion and expression. Whereas Narrow Scope had obvious standout tracks ("One Less Addiction" being the bar-none gem of the bunch — so good they did it twice), Hold Your Breath is more consistent, with each song sounding like a casual divergence upon the one preceding. Whether any of the songs are 'radio-friendly,' as the intention seems to be, is speculative at best, but if the hook and replay value of songs like "Heaven's a Letter Bomb," "Belly Up," and "Yours Truly" says anything, Embodyment certainly has as good a chance at some ASCAP royalties as any modern hard rock acts.

The most striking thing about Hold Your Breath is that it contradicts and compliments itself constantly. There is really nothing complex about their chord arrangement and verse-chorus-verse-bridge-verse structure whatsoever, yet their songs, for the most part, feel rich and meaningful. Is it just Sean's voice? Is it really that powerful? It's possible, but more likely is that the band is finally coalescing. Narrow Scope, while a notable and daring effort at mutation, was splintered and fractured, and probably too hurried, too ambitious — the ol' 'biting off more than you can chew,' or 'swimming too soon after eating' thing. And for all its glorious moments, it suffered in the details. And Hold Your Breath even has its periods of wandering stupor (there are definitely a couple songs to skip past after the first few listens), but the nice thing is that the record feels cohesive and planned. The songs are intentional. There is a recognizable 'voice,' an elemental character, a collective personality, something being said; although what is being "said" is kept blessedly in the subjective by a hazy, gelatinous atmosphere, somewhat similar to the Sea and Cake's Oui. Words register, but quickly dissipate into the realm of sonic icons, lyrics, by virtue of projection, becoming just another instrument and layer in the song. Whether this particular product is intentional or not is a subject way too open for idle speculation at this point, but Sam Prekop seemed to be aware that his words were "irrelevant" (even as he denied it) when I spoke to him about Oui in an interview, so it is possible that Sean is shooting for a song integrity that transcends the normal sound-backed soapbox. If he and the band aren't 'trying' to do this, I hope they will at least maintain their 'incidental' compositional approach, because building a rock-song-with-vocals so intertwined with itself is not a task easily contrived.

Will Embodyment achieve their mainstream goal with this record? Will they finally break, or even get the major label contract like semi-label-mates MxPx, Project 86, and Juliana Theory? That is really hard to say, and, as with anything rock market related, the odds are against them. But at the very least, they should garner more respect in the underground, and maybe even among critics — perhaps a wider fan-base — which doesn't pay the kids' tuition, but certainly makes the continued journey a little more gratifying a concept to conceive.