To me Xerxes has always been a band with huge potential, which they displayed on their two previous EP’s and their great split with Midnight Souls a while back, but they never really developed that potential. Untill now that is, on their first full length called “Our Home Is A Deathbed” we hear a mature, progressed Xerxes and they pretty much catapulted themselves to the top of the “bands to watch” list.
They open with a sort of haunting and mysterious intro, only to make the second song hit a whole harder when it starts. It’s a short one but that’s what I love about this band, they’re able to make those short and chaotic songs but they can also pull of a bit more Touché Amoré ‘ish melodic hardcore/screamo style which they display perfectly in “Tide/This Place Is A Prison”. On this song the first thing that popped into my head was how similar the vocals were to those of Jeremy from Touché but a bit more raw. I love the melody in this song, it fits the overall ‘flow’ of the vocals great.
On to “Suburban Asphalt”, this was a bit of a stand out song when I gave this album a first listen because of the transition in the middle of the song from fast and more chaotic to slow and emotional. As I said before the vocals are pretty raw and when they’re placed over some slow and emotional melody they have this real passionate and emotional feel to them. “Fever Dream” kinda picks up where the previous song left off, the tempo is low, but what stand out here is the melodic and even in a way post-rock’ish guitarwork. Again they manage to capture a sort of desperation in their music and I alway love it when a band is able to bring across those kind of feelings in their music.
“Summer Storms / Winter Leaves” might be one of my favourite songs of the album. The way it starts off with only the drums and vocals is somthing you simply cannot dislike. I also really like the lyrics on this one. When he screams “We walk the path wishing you’d return like the red season we watched you leave” it kind of gave me chills when I first heard it. The only thing is, once again, that they really have a very strong resemblance to Touché Amoré.
The albums then goes on to two faster songs “February” and “Our City Is A Floodplain” that continue down the same path they kinda made for themselves over the years. Combining raw emotions with melodic and sometimes “nervous” (as in fast and active) guitar work. But what I like the most about them are their lyrics, they’re really honest and passionate and make the songs a whole lot better when you have read them.
“Funeral Home” is another good song but didn’t really stand out that much to me, but what I really liked was the next song “Sleepwalking With You”. Again they capture this feeling of sadness and desperation so damn well and the lyrics fit so well with the music. It’s those songs that make this album so good, those raw and honest songs that give you chills when in the right mood. This is definitely the best song on the album to me.
They end with “Our Home Is A Deathbed”. This song kinda picks up where the previous one left off, down tempo yet melodic with those raw screams on top.
On this album I feel like Xerxes finally found their own place within the genre. Somewhere between oldschool Touché Amoré and Pianos Become The Teeth but then with more of a melodic hardcore feel to it. Even though they resemble the aforementioned bands a bit too much sometimes I really enjoyed the album and if they manage to develop the sound they create on songs like “Sleepwalking With You” and “Summer Storms / Winter Leaves” this band will be going places.
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