Review: State Faults ‘Children of the Moon’
Photo courtesy of @chevilepsy
State Faults from Santa Rosa, California, are releasing their fourth album on July 26 via Deathwish Inc. and Dog Knights in the U.K./Europe—and it’s one you don’t want to miss. With near-perfect execution of the blend between post-hardcore, visceral melodies, and the gnarliest screamo, Children of The Moon is an album for anyone who enjoys good music across the board (as long as you can withstand the heaviness).
After a five-year hiatus forced fans into a state of contentment acknowledging State Faults as yet another short-lived screamo band, entering and reshaping the scene as quickly as they exited, their third full-length LP, Clairvoyant (2019), would serve as beautiful discord. The subsequent success the scene responded with, was overwhelming. The album sparked enough traction to keep State Faults touring across North America and Europe for the latter half of the year. With a replenished excitement for their future and a renewed sense of growth and determination, State Faults was ready for what lay ahead.
Interrupting their momentum, the pandemic (infectious with disaster for all) hit and halted their spring and summer plans. Remaining optimistic and embracing the change the pandemic brought about, State Faults diverted to composing new and fresh material.
A year of impassioned devotion to writing went by, and they hit the studio to craft their fourth scene-breaking album, Children of The Moon. Produced with Chris Teti (The World Is A Beautiful Place…) in Burlington, Connecticut, COTM is as haunting and lustral as it is beautiful and palliating.
Layered on top of sanctified guitar parts, singer and guitarist Johnny Andrew’s harsh vocals apply full-bodied heaviness to accompany the melodic precision of the instruments. Rounding out the first track titled, “Blood Moon,” the songwriting showcases an exorcism of the heart. Seemingly the lyrics exist to evoke emotion and direct passion derived from the grievance of a grave marked with introspective pain. This song represents the road to hope and a promise to prevail the journey.
The second track, “Palo Santo,” shockingly follows suit. Captivating hooks and expertly paced blasts and fills support a rare showcase of Andrew’s ethereal singing between his signature screams. It’s songs like this that make me hesitant to label them as screamo or any other genre–something so heavy and beautiful should resonate with any avid music fan.
“Leviathan” is up next and on a fairly similar track as “Palo Santo” prior. The brief pause from the bite of Andrew’s typical scream, to hearing the melodic passage of his guitar solo, is a feeling I wish I could experience for the first time, all over again. The intricate details of the rest of the underlying and harmonious guitar parts can really only be appreciated through a full second listen.
The tracks “Heat Death” and “Divination,” display the band at their heaviest. Consuming riffs, drums that are fast, hard, and complex (yet maintained so effortlessly), with bone chilling vocals comprise these COTM staples.
“No Gospel,” is the halfway mark. Diverging from the State Faults norm to unfamiliar ground, this track is a ten minute long prog/screamo exploration of their limits as artists and musicians. Offering psychedelic guitar parts, brassy vocals drenched in reverb behind heavy basslines and catchy drum rhythms, “No Gospel” is void of any creative safety. About seven minutes in, the song switches pace; the soundscape becomes dense and layered, and the vocals are soft and tenuous. Concluding with a gentle acoustic guitar feature, this song hits all anthem points.
It’s seemingly impossible but the trajectory of this album is maintained even through the concluding track, “Bodega Head.” This nine-minute track is a delicately woven ballad, strung together with acoustic guitar building to its apex of evocative drums and a borderline spiritual guitar solo. The entire song feels like a sacred experience.
Starting work on this album nearly five years ago, wrapping up production with Teti amidst a global crisis, and halting the release to navigate the travesties of the post-pandemic landscape, personally, financially and together as a band, makes the release of this record entirely worth the wait. Even the initial and rough draft play through was dynamic and exhilarating.
Not only is immense maturity displayed in the sheer composition of the tracks, but the growth demonstrated of each individual and what they bring to the band musically is genuinely impressive and makes this record that much more of an immersive experience to listen to.