’…what Frail Body have produced is an impressive yet uncomfortable and disconcerting listen…’
Back in 2019, Illinois based three-piece Frail Body released their debut record, ‘A Brief Memoriam’. The album was widely acclaimed, with listeners citing the band’s crushing take on screamo and blackened hardcore as being a powerful experience to behold, packing a real emotive weight. Now, a little over four years later, the band have released their sophomore full-length record, ‘Artificial Bouquet’.
Picking up right where their debut left off, what Frail Body have produced is an impressive yet uncomfortable and disconcerting listen, and one that overwhelms the listener with walls of ferocious guitars, pummelling blast beats, and searing screamed vocal performances.
‘Artificial Bouquet’ is not an easy listen, but never seeks to be; the album evolves from a scathing indictment of social issues, to an uncompromising and unflinching exploration of the death of a parent, a cascade of emotions collapsing on from the macroscopic to the microscopic.
‘Scaffolding’ blows open the album in a furious manner, Lowell Shaffer’s trademark piercing screams taking aim at the unsustainable endless growth and exploitation of capitalism. ‘Critique Programme’ continues these themes, casting a glaring light on the class divides that maintain such systems. The ever evolving musical nature is breathtaking to behold, as it shifts between brutal, blistering onslaughts, and crushing, melodic moments of instrumental introspection. Nic Kuczynski’s bass is a particular delight throughout, rich in tone and thunderous in nature.
Things take a personal turn when the album arrives at ‘Devotion’. A deeply impactful rumination on grief and faith, ‘Devotion’ deals with how the death of a loved one can force you to look deeply at your relationship with a God that provides to no answers; Shaffer’s mother had been a devout Christian, and Shaffer bore witness to his mother reconciling that her faith could ultimately provide no solace from her impending death. Shaffer, a visceral presence throughout, contemplates what the purpose of suffering is, whether it is meant to be a divine plan to enable spiritual growth, and whether a universal God even has an understanding of what human suffering is (‘Hope to find some source of depth/In the darkness nothing coalesced’).
‘No Resolution’ once again packs a phenomenal bass line that rises up with melodic phrases from the walls of musical oblivion and snakes around the frenzied vocal passages. It’s a viscerally impactful track, bringing in elements such as a spoken word segment, that adds some depth and levity to the sonic inferno that is this album; moments of quiet do well to contrast the more endlessly aggressive moments such as ‘Berth’.
The album proceeds towards a gut-wrenchingly emotional climax, commencing with ‘Horizon Line’. Shaffer grapples with the guilt left for him in the wake of choosing to go on a tour that was decisive for the fate of Frail Body, and in the process leaving his mother, whose health would go on to rapidly and irreversibly worsen whilst he was on said tour. This is the apex around which the album rotates; Shaffer’s unshakable belief that we all have a duty of care to one another, and how this unstoppable force collides with circumstances that present no right answers, no clear solutions.
By the time the album slowly fades out with the dying moments of ‘A Capsule in the Sediment’, Frail Body have managed to pull the listener through an unimaginable personal tragedy, and out through to the other side, where all that remains is you and the choices you did make, could have made, and were never given a chance to make. Whilst the soundscape of this album can be daunting and uncomfortable, it reflects the tone of the core themes perfectly; a desperate frenzy against insurmountable odds.
Certainly, ‘Artificial Bouquet’ isn’t the kind of album you would use to introduce people to blackened hardcore and screamo. However, what Frail Body have created will provide a deeply rewarding to seasoned fans of this subsection of the heavy scene. This record is a blistering, emotive affair that will challenge the listener, and is even more rewarding when the lyrics are truly digested alongside the terrifying walls of musical fury. A great moment in modern screamo.
RATING: 77/100 – Mostly Very Good
For Fans Of: Deafheaven, La Dispute, Touché Amoré, Birds in Row, Chat Pile
Physical copies of the album are available to purchase here.
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