You don’t really know this until you’re deep inside of it, but grief and emotional torment take a physical toll on your body. There is pain beyond what you feel in your heart and mind that can manifest itself in your body, making you feel like your were battered and bruised by a cage fighter. Grief and loss can overwhelm you in ways you cannot possibly imagine until those factors become a part of your life.
Denver’s BleakHeart have spent two records grappling with the misery that accompanies loss, the latest being “Silver Pulse,” an album that has powers beyond its doom-rich, entrancing music. Following up their 2020 debut “Dream Griever,” the band—vocalist/keyboardist/bassist Kelly Schilling (also of the great Dreadnought), guitarists JP Damron and Mark Chronister, vocalist/synth player Kiki GaNun, drummer Joshua Quinones, though Garrett B Jones handles drums in the live setting—spills all of their emotion and vulnerability into these six tracks. They lay bare the physical effects one withstands throughout life with handling grief, and they also push into how pain affects those who are on the other end, dealing with an illness and trying to find the strength to survive. Understanding these things and working to absorb the impact may key to fighting through and living alongside torment.
“All Hearts Desire” starts doomy as hell, keys shimmering, singing floating through the storm. The playing delves into the fog and gets dreamier, the synth swimming through shadowy waters, Schilling calling, “I feel their eyes watching,” as the moments dissolve. “Sinking Sea” starts with guitar thickening mists, the singing soothing as the emotion caterwauls, strings adding a frothing gaze. Reflective melodies ripple as things tighten up, the sounds swell, and the singing swirls before fading. “Where I’m Disease” begins with a capella calls, keys quivering as the guitars echo, delicate singing sending chills down your spine. The playing swirls as the guitars bristle, a nighttime vibe making your flesh cool to the touch, the keys chiming to a chilling finish.
“Let Go” starts with the keys dropping, lasers moving through mystical air, meandering purposely as the proper aura is achieved. Strings haunt as the song slinks, the icy terrain melting, consumed by heaviness and shadows. “Weeping Willow” is a more direct song, one that drives to its point, the guitars adding muscle as singing surges, scraping stardust. Keys glimmer as the guitars pick up the pace, the singing pushing back harder, the heavy strain spilling blood that runs into the rivers. Closer “Falling Softly” is the longest track, running 8:14 and opening in entrancing vibes, tranquility numbing your mind. The playing basks in darkness, hypnosis sinking in even deeper, sounds enveloping you, darkening as the notes hit harder. Clouds carry emotional tumult, twisting your bruised nerve endings, dissolving into the cosmos.
The pain and mental toll one pays when losing someone or facing down a disease can devastate, and that’s a toll one pays for life. BleakHeart’s elegant doom and heartfelt energy on “Silver Pulse” make that lesson hit hard, but it also offers an opening for healing and finding new strength that exist within the callouses of sadness. It’s not the heaviest record you’ll hear sonically, but it might be emotionally as it has its way with you and leaves you bruised and but hopeful you’ll survive the hard times.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/bleakheartband
To buy the album, go here: https://shop.seeingredrecords.com/
For more on the label, go here: https://www.seeingredrecords.com/
Meat Mead Metal 