Reviews list for ERRA - ERRA (2021)

Middling Machinations

Although I find myself checking out quite a few instrumental Djent-y and progressive leaning albums every year, I normally tap out when any sort of Metalcore gets added to the equation. I've become a bit more accepting of the supposedly heavy breakdowns and apparently emotional hooks, but hardly enough for me to want to seek it out. Thankfully when I first threw on this new ERRA self-titled album the two standout tracks "Snowblood" and "Gungrave" started the whole affair on a high enough note to keep me thoroughly interested cover to cover. Since this was my first experience with ERRA I was pretty impressed that a chuggy Metalcore album could hold my interest for longer than a few songs, with each track sporting some truly interesting and more complex songwriting than most other bands in their genre. Maybe I haven't been keeping up with the progression of the more Melodic Metalcore and Djent subgenres, but this feels fresh and somewhat progressive in a more meaningful way than what I'm used to hearing.

That being said, I have to admit that this only applies to half of the album. ERRA is hit or miss in the blandest of ways considering the misses have most of what makes the hits great, but they just aren't executed in a way that makes them compelling. "Snowblood", "Gungrave", House of Glass", "Electric Twilight", "Lunar Halo", and "Eidolon" are fantastic examples of what ERRA's sound can do when written and performed well, but the rest of the album is a middling slog of similar ideas. The riffs just don't hit as hard, the synths and other effects are generally used in boring ways, the choruses are more forgettable, and these tracks just make the album experience become monotonous after a while. For every incredible guitar riff in one of the standout tracks there seems to be more generic ones in tracks like "Divisionary", "Shadow Autonomous", and "Vanish Canvas" that suck a lot of the life from the album. Couple that with the one-note harsh vocals and tracks like "Memory Fiction" having some seriously questionable clean vocals, plus the tedium of the loud as hell kick drum and I can start to understand why this album can be a rough sell for some people, including me at times.

However, I think ERRA is able to create a much more enjoyable album than most of their contemporaries due to the great songwriting, riffs, and interesting ideas on the songs that manage to shine through. The clean vocals provide a powerful contrast to the repetitive harsh vocals that elevate the choruses in "Gungrave" and "Snowblood" in cool ways. Although he gets pretty close to being annoying for me personally, the clean vocalist does a solid job of staying in his lane until songs like "Vanish Canvas" and "Memory Fiction" show up. Other tracks like "Lunar Halo" and "Eidolon" add in an additional layer of synth and guitar effects for amazing impact, so much so that I really wish they would have doubled down on this aspect of their sound for most of their other tracks. I can imagine the intro to "Lunar Halo" may sound cheesy and silly to some, but I think it fits well into the more mechanical aspect of ERRA's sound. However, "Scorpion Hymn" is an obvious example of being careful with what you wish for since the synth adds pretty much nothing to the composition and the 50-second fadeout is way too over the top.

I'm definitely happy for ERRA though as, from what I can tell, this self-titled album is a massive step up from their previous material in a lot of ways. Admittedly I've spent way more time with ERRA than I have with their earlier albums like Augment, but from what I can tell I enjoy the more deeper, more powerful sounding riffs, the slightly less growl intensive harsh vocals, and the more mechanical and technical atmosphere. I was able to catch these guys live this year and I can say that their newer material had a way larger effect on the crowd than their older stuff, so I sincerely hope that they can continue to refine the sound they've settled into here on ERRA. Although it may not be the most consistent album there are some standout songs that will satiate Metalcore fans looking for technical riffing, great vocal contrast, exciting solos, and cool synth ideas. I just really wish that "Memory Fiction" was cut considering it's such a departure from what the rest of the album is trying to do.