Introduction
One year after the first LP and an additional EP the band around boysetsfire vocalist Nathan Gray comes with a brand new and quite big LP which contains 18 songs. The LP also comes with a CD which has three additional tracks in store.
When this band formed and announced the first LP I wasn't really interested as the only thing I wanted to hear from Mr. Gray was a new boysetsfire LP. Now I regret this ignorance. After some time I decided to give it try as I heard someone saying that I'd probably like it when I liked the early boysetsfire and yeah - I like the early boysetsfire a lot! I was not disapointed. Even though I will from now on avoid any comparison of these two bands as I think their only real thing in common is their vocalist. I bought the first selftitled LP and listened further. I started to really love this band. They manage to create a dark but yet subtile feeling and combine it with rhytmical riffs which tend to be somewhere between Hardcore and Metal. The lyrics all have a strong atheist notion (which I personally enjoy a lot) and the themes are mostly occult. This is something very common in genres like Black Metal or similar but not in (Post-)Hardcore or any genre that is close to it.
The first two releases were managed by End Hits Records (in Europe) which I personally like very much although they are still a smaller label that has a fanbase that might be rooted and connected with boysetsfire so it may have been a good step to sign a bigger and more general label for their new release. If this has been a good step in all points might turn out after the review.
The Music
The only referencepoint for this release is their previous LP and the four-song EP that also came out in 2013. I loved both of them and if you did too I may warn you as Thy Will is pretty different in some ways.
All in all it got a bit heavier and darker but I liked that as it contributed a lot to their musical and genre indipendence. The whole album is parted into two chapters called "Aleph" and "Tav" (these are also the names for each side on the LP). Aleph is the first letter in the hebrew alphabet and Tav (normally written Taw) marks the last letter in that alphabet. Beginning with this, the album follows various mythical and religious themes and myths while always keeping an atheist notion. You may already see that this album offers a lot of interesting songs only because of its lyrics but I can assure you, the instrumental part always fits the sometimes heavenly sung and sometimes infernal screamed lyrics of Nathan Gray. Songs like "March Of The Black Earth" and "Year Zero In The Temple Of Fire" show you how an apocalypse may sound - but in a good way! One song might sound familiar to you if you already own the first album. "Seven Wolves And The Daughters Of Apocalypse" was already on the first album but way recorded a second time for this album. I don't know a reason for that decision but as it the lyrics content fit the overall theme of this album the band may decided to include it in this album again. Musically this is an exceptional piece of art and a very promising follow up album. I really hope that this doesn't end up as another sideproject after all and that the band will keep making music indepent from all other bands they may play in.
The Vinyl
As I already noted this one was not released by End Hits Records who did the first LP and EP. And regarding the vinyl release you see that. Although we have a nice black 180gram record with a foldable insert containing the lyrics and some smaller artwork this could have been better executed regarding optical factors by a smaller but yet more sensible label like End Hits Records. I don't complain as I received a well pressed record with an additional CD (which contains 3 more songs) but the "designer" always tends to do some more about artwork and the color of the vinyl. A black and cream haze would haved fit the artwork perfectly for example.
The Verdict
This is the first really anticipated release for me this year and I Am Heresy didn't disapoint me. They play a very intense and special mix of hardcore music that I really enjoy and I honestly hope that this won't be the last entry in their discography. The label didn't affect their style or their music at all in my opinion. The vinyl fan that likes extended artwork and coloured vinyl may be a bit (but only a bit as many also prefer 180gram over style aspects like these) disapointed but all in all this is a great album that received a good and solid release.
Overall a solid 8/10.
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