Review: “Perfect War Forever” EP by Glass Cloud

Releasing in 2013 via Equal Vision Records, “Perfect War Forever” is the second and at this point in time final outing from Richmond Virginia Metallers Glass Cloud. It came just over a year after the bands debut full length album “The Royal Thousand” and has the original line up of vocalist Jerry Rouch (ex-Of Mice & Men, ex-Sky Eats Airplane), guitarist Joshua Travis (Emmure, ex-Tony Danza), bassist Travis Skykes and drummer Chad Hasty, both of whom are now in Glassjaw.

Taking some of the darker atmospheric sounds from “The Royal Thousand” and using them to approach their sophomore release helped to affirm the Glass Cloud sound. DJent heavy staccato riffs from Josh Travis break the introduction ambience of “Trapped Like Rats”. The Opening track features then title of the EP in it’s brutal caustic vocals from Jerry Rouch, a man on a mission. The “Perfect War Forever” is the tale of a broken relationship, played out with blood and lust and mind games. Nuanced riffs bounce out of the mix at various points while an eerie horror film creep sound bridges into “I Dug A Grave”. Another powerhouse tune of riffs that sound get After The Burial fans jumping and Emmure fans heading for the pit. Rouch screams about wanting to jump, but instead of being a Nu-Metal introspection it’s a crushing dark tale of wanting to bury ones lover in the ground. Taking the role of the scorned against a backdrop of pummellingly heavy hit work and one of the finer vocal performances Rouch has delivered it’s a fine cut. There is an argument here for Glass Cloud being a gateway band for DJent and Metalcore fans to get into Deathcore as well. After another separator in the form of what sounds like background noise at a train station, “How To Survive Suicide” brings back some of the clean vocal elements and more progressive ambient work that appeared on the bands debut. It’s lyrically the ideal follow up to a song that mentions suicidal tendencies and maintains the high energy chaotic controlled musical backdrop from the earlier pair of tunes. It’s an eclectic mix that is followed by the sound of a bell chiming.

That chime is the funeral call of “Soul Is Dead”, a brutal bounce-a-thon of jarring jagged edged riffs with off kilter pauses and a fantastic flow. The introspective lyrics are taken up a notch as the EP effectively follows the theme of the relationship, the break up and then the aftermath. Rouch screams about hating the person he’s become after the influence of the relationship and anyone who’s been there can empithise. After a juggernaut of jackhammer kit work “Lilac” kicks in full force like a blunt force trama. Travis conjurers the illusion that he is a pair of guitarists, such is his skill and experience with the 8 string. Chad Hasty closes out the release with his finest kit performance loaded with pounding groove with less of the Jazz inspired elements of the debut on show. We’ve cheated on the track listing to add the bands Tears For Fears cover to this review. It appears on a compilation called “Take Action” and while Nu-Metal bands covered some of their 80’s heroes with modernization and little hints of their own sound, Glass Cloud did what we wanted them to do. Not only did they put their own spin on it… Just do yourself a favour and check it out! [8.5/10]

Track listing

  1. Trapped Like Rats
  2. I Dug A Grave
  3. How To Survive Suicide
  4. Soul Is Dead
  5. Lilac
  6. Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Tears For Fears Cover)

“Perfect War Forever” by Glass Cloud is out now via Equal Vision Records

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