If you ever need to remind yourself of why it makes a difference having bands who really care about the music they play, then you need look no further. I suspected I would like this record, I didn’t expect to love it. The use of post-metal dynamics, particularly the swelling and crescendo moments are stirring to say the least and the vocal interplay between Gibbs and Green is, at times, spectacular. What I had not quite bargained on was how affecting the record would be. So when the album arrived, named Loss, then it was clear we were in for an introspective and quite personal affair. There are the clean/harsh vocal and guitar trade-offs, but applied to song structures that are altogether more interesting and immersive. For the uninitiated, DSHS could possibly be described as post-metalcore. Paul handled live shows, etc and then after a handful of shows where Ed came back to share vocal duties, he returned to the band formally and DSHS v 2.0 were born. Paul Green stepped in when Ed Gibbs stepped away from the band in 2013. I shan’t go over it now, but I’ll just say that this is their first full-length in 9 years and the first featuring 2 vocalists. The DSHS story is a relatively complex one.
But I think it is indicative of a new generation of music listeners who see less distinction in genre and are (in spite of what I’ve spent a portion of my life believing) actually quite open-minded when it comes to what they listen to. I’m not suggesting this isthmus beginnings of a paradigm shift and that rock/punk/metal is about to take, en masse, to the television and airwaves again, I should say. Architects and Mogwai both had no.1 albums (as did BMTH and You Me At Six, but their music is arguably more pop than alternative at this point) and there were hugely successful campaigns for Gojira, Deafheaven, Turnstile and many more besides. The roll-out of vaccines, the subsequent return of (some) shows and even some ‘proper’ bands achieving mainstream success in my native UK.
But being marginally less existentially dramatic for a minute, there was plenty to be grateful for in 2021.
At times even that didn’t seem a certainty, so I guess I should be thankful.
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