A review: Comatose - "A Way Back"

Comatose - A Way Back

1. "Circles": Starts with a crescendo of noise before coming in crushing with some fat tones. Reminds me a little of a heavier Balance And Composure. The melody in the background is minimal but pleasant. The vocals join in and they fill in the middle of the mix quite well. It's like prog meets Deftones, and I'm enjoying the blend. I wish there was more to the lyrics than one verse and one chorus. When the band drops out at 3:54 and the guitars have a harmony moment as the song fades out, that was a great choice. Overall, solid track.
   
   
2. "Gone": Part of this feels like early aughts hard rock, with a heavy helping of doom or shoegaze, with just a hint of weird indie rock. It's heavy yet catchy, dark yet pop. The lyrics won't blow you away with their complexity, but the vocals sit well in the mix and work with the music. The chorus segues from early aughts hard rock to early aughts pop-punk mixed with doom, and it also is shockingly catchy. My only complaint is I want more lyrics to carry me over the four-minute length. If not, this song could have been two and a half to three minutes and held the punchy factor. Great music, weak lyrics. Buyer beware. 
   
   
3. "Alone": No lyrics posted for this song on Comatose's Bandcamp, but there are some words. I can make out "dear my neighbor, you're not alone" during the chorus, perhaps a song about Covid life? The music is pulsing and has a good groove to it, but I like the pace of the chorus better. The verse/non-chorus section the guitar melodies feel repetitive and I want more from them. This song has a spacey outro that riffs quite well, and it's an aspect of this album that I'm enjoying. Not great, not skip-worthy though. 
   
   
4. "Skin": This track opens with a dissonant lick that I found quite enjoyable. The slow plodding nature of it feels quite grungy. Lyrically light again, but I think stripped down and minimal is the feeling this album is going for. Again, I would like more lyrics to latch on to for a song that runs nearly five minutes. Where it makes up for this is the rich sonic palette the band utilizes. The walls of sound with spacey guitar melodies over the thick rhythm section envelopes the listener. Strong track, enjoy it! 
   
   
5. "Spread": "Spread" features the most non-repeated lyrics on the album so far at three original stanzas. The intro feels like a doom indie-pop intro. The thick sound is so pummeling I had to take a break from listening to this album about a minute in as it is a little overloading on the ears. It sounds good, but there are little-to-no dynamic breaks in the sonic landscape and my ears were feeling some exhaustion. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily, but it might not be for everyone. Upon returning, I read through the lyrics and they feel like an attempt at creating something deep and pondering, introspective and meaningful. I don't believe it lands that way, at least not for me. The riffs here also don't land with me, the guitar melodies don't feel like they line up with the rhythm section like previous tracks. Perhaps this was too ambitious a song? If that's the case, great! Swing for the moon! Worst case scenario is that it doesn't land. Glad they tried something new, wasn't for me.  
   
   
6. "Inside": I like this intro a lot. The chords are interesting and the rhythm choice is good. The fuzz starts fading in and during the second round through this pattern the wall of sound returns. The melody is back in line with the rhythm. I keep thinking that this sounds like grunge had a weird relationship with pop-punk and their offspring got really into indie. There is a really interesting choice that adds something to this album at 1:55 when the singer stops singing "Self" and starts growling it, and then we go into another pass of the second stanza with this growling/screaming vocal style and it hits quite hard. The guitars also take on a more menacing tone. A great choice that worked extremely well. I wish they had stayed on it because it's over by 2:33. It's hard to believe we still have nearly three minutes left on this track though, we've been through the lyrics at least four times. Near 4:43 it drops out into a spacey jam for the last minute. The spacey jam is nice, and I'd rather live in this moment for two or three minutes than the lyrics jam from before. More of this, please. Strong track, enjoy it. 
   
   
7. "Further": This intro reminds me of another song, but I can't place it. It's a nice change from the previous line up in regards to atmosphere. It has a major tone to it, and sounds like doom emo, like if Brand New had gone on a Sleep binge. About a minute and a half vocals join in. Like the rest of the album, they won't blow your mind, but it sounds good. Not a lot of repeated lyrics here, which is nice. At 3:20 the music takes a bit of a left turn into some dark shoegaze stuff, which while not in line with the general feel is an interesting choice. More screamed vocals here too which also is a refreshing change. It sounds really good, but not cohesive with the first half of the song. Okay, but seems to have identity issues. 
   
   
8. "Sinking": We open with a slower tempo and some crushing chords. It's not long before a rolling drum part joins in which adds fluidity to the sound. The lyrics don't repeat on this song which is a welcomed change from the majority of the album. There's a synth part in the background that is rising and falling, and it's a little jarring from the guitar/bass work. This is the shortest song on the album, but still clocks in at almost 4 minutes. Distortion falls away around 1:40 and we have a nice melodic break with some simple but enjoyable guitar work. It comes crushing in back in at 2:16 with a more pulsating sound. We ride out the lyrics with the repeated refrain of "drowning, living, searching, finding." Again, this feels like an attempt at some deep or mystical lyrics, but it feels rather shallow in reality. Alright, not skip-worthy. 

Overall Thoughts: Sonically, this album is really good. I really enjoyed what was offered up here in the music department. My only criticism is that it lacks dynamic range and can fatigue the listener after a while (especially since I had to take a break). Additionally, each song could have been shorter and felt punchier, especially since the lyrics were sparse and repetitious. If the band wants to continue writing songs of these lengths the lyrics have to have more meat to them to hold my attention for 4-6 minutes a wack. I don't have any favorite tracks, but I don't have least favorite either. This album largely blurs together in doom-shoegaze post-pop punk sounds. If you're more attuned to music over lyrics, this album will be very enjoyable for you.

Grade: 5.5/10 - Give it a wack, you might be surprised.