It turns out that in the time I decided to write about this record (approx one million months ago*) and actually writing about this record, that Seagraves have chosen to call time on the band. Which is a massive shame because Weight of the World is really great and I feel terrible about being so tardy with this review. Sorry Seagraves. It's not your fault.
Weight of the World is the sound of a band at the top of their game. All chugging riffs and heavy beatdowns and pounding drums and throat-ravaging vocals. They hadn't really been together for too long before this debut dropped in February and it seems as though the quartet would have had a lot more to offer in terms of refining their sound and hammering out catchy as heck melodies while maintaining a solid and tangible heaviness. But hey, all good things much come to and end and we're not here to judge (ok, we're judging a little bit but that's the music and not anyone's life choices). Seagraves dealt with their rage via infusing their hardcore edge with crust elements and more rhythms of annihilation than you can shake a stick at, probably.
"Hollow Lies" kicks things off with slick guitar inflections that betray the bile the lies beneath and in Niall Wright's spat lyrics, his voice tinged with a depth that echoes across the break rather fittingly and forces you to listen to the words thrown forth. Seagraves ain't messing about; they mean every single thing they say and the conviction that pulses through "Dreams are for Fools" and the rest of record is like an electric current and it lends the band a harsh reality - life is bloody awful, eh?
"Wrong" says what we all think and never say out loud, "...you were always wrong," while carrying a noticeably filthy hook in the breakneck drums and churning guitar work.The slowed down, sludgy sections are a great counterpoint to the otherwise fast paced sound Seagraves have created and the change up in style is as refreshing as gross, dirty patterns of sickness can be. Lovely.
Weight of the World is a fiery record which rolls in moments of total disgust and wraps you in a sheen of pure dirt. When it's over you feel a little bit like you've been caught doing something you shouldn't and of course, you press play again.
*Possibly an over-exaggeration.
