With one fell swoop Highness manage to confirm suspicions and completely avoid them. When a band made up of more than a few well known underground acts get together there is bound to be a few ideas as to what they should or will sound like when the finished product is available. When your band consists of members of such bands as Christie Front Drive, City Of Caterpillar, Ghastly City Sleep and Corn On Macabre (among others) one could fathom a few ideas most of which probably relegated to being a '90s styled emo band.
Well hate to break it to anyone hoping for that you're wish has been perversely granted. While there are certainly tinges of that style within the main vocals and pensive melodic and more "normal" rock breaks there is a whole other beast lying within. While the influence of each previously mentioned band does have an obvious piece to this puzzle at different intervals where the record gets truly interesting is when the band employs influence from more spaced out territory. For every melodic vocal part that sounds absolutely familiar is a post rock ambiance that manages to permeate nearly every song. This gives the songs and their writers a chance to truly stretch out and give the songs the space they deserve.
More often than not the more surprising parts of the record as a whole is when the layers get broken down and either go into a more normal sounding heavy part or even the more rudimentary rock parts. By including the normal it gives the more broad instrumental parts a chance to breathe and consume the listener. So in the end the listener gets a mix of 90's styled emo, post rock moves and a complete idea of what is possible if a band sits down and dedicates themselves towards writing with a goal in mind but without boundaries.
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