Album Review

Departures – Teenage Haze

• 30th Nov 2012

The hardcore emotional rock band from Glasgow have returned with another full length album and have now been signed by American label, No Sleep Records. Departures’ debut album When Losing Everything Is Everything You Wanted was released last year, June 2011. The album was beautifully crafted and mixed fast, hardcore rock music with passionate and emotional lyrics. Their new album, Teenage haze, has nine tracks that have a consistent flow of quality throughout.

The album kicks off with the rhythmical “Drained Out” and “Making Maps”. They both have a selection of warm, simple and upbeat sounds with aggressive, hardcore vocals. The beautiful opening guitar riffs sound better every time you listen to them and are certainly a fantastic way to launch the album.

As you reach the middle of the album you experience Departure’s exploration into new territories and attempts to improve their current soundscapes. “Teenage Haze” (the interlude of the album) and “Those Miles Meant Everything” start off with a mid tempo lead up towards the main frame of the song. The repeating patterns in the drum beats forever push the songs into a direction which you feel the vocalist fighting against but then your recaptured by the sound of the harmonious guitars, lighter rock rhythms. Whilst the use of the nicely selected drum patterns are refreshing the selected patterns give a more precise and thought out approach than the more aggressive attack of their first album.

“Teenage Haze” is an interesting addition to the album and is a favorite track. It has almost perfect rhythms and fluid sounds with out James Mckean’s monotone crying which has had trouble fitting in with some of the slower song formations. However, on a more positive note he does seem to bring a passionate weight to the emotional lyrics that previous hardcore bands have not always managed.

The work up to the climax of “Where Will The Time Go” is pretty epic. The intro is long and consists of James Mckean whispering about the bummer of unkept promises *cries*. It certainly reflects teenage uncertainties. The second half of the record however consists of some hardcore power chords and excellently forged drumming; which makes compelling listening.

Overall the album has displayed the bands obvious development with more grown up sounds. The growth of their musical maturity has made it possible for them to evoke the listener’s emotions and force them to hear. Teenage Haze is a step up from their previous work and is a solid second edition to their showcase. The negatives of this album are completely outweighed by the positives. They have kept their cutting edge, raw, emotional vocals and combined it with a mixture of hardcore, melodic sounds. Departures have successfully set themselves apart from other existing hardcore bands and have created new avenues for the genre to grow into. Hardcore fans will definitely be happy with this new addition to their music library.

Venue: Teenage Haze
Support Band: In At The Deep End