While many bands who emerged from the so-called screamo movement stuck rigidly to established tropes, Envy have always seemed to demand much more from themselves, and Athiest’s Cornea continues that proud tradition of aiming high.
There are moments here that will tick a box or two for post-hardcore aficionados, not least the strident, ATDI-esque grooves of Ignorant Rain At The End Of The World, but those more straightforward moments are surrounded by spinetingling swathes of refined, ambient elegance and sudden, jarring eruptions of feral aggression.
Opener Blue Moonlight sets the tone with a brief burst of elegiac, clean guitar that is unceremoniously brutalised. Shining Finger offers a more widescreen take on melodic post-rock, but where their peers might meander, Envy power forward with purpose and conviction, ensuring that the delicate peaks and plunges of Ticking Time And String and Two Isolated Souls sting with melancholy’s bittersweet venom.
