15th February 2024

Review: “Maybe In Another Life” by Bloom

“Maybe in Another Life contains our heaviest moments and most memorable choruses to date, and brandishes the full range of the sound we have been crafting since we began as a group” ~ Jono Hawkey

Vocalist Jono Hawkey’s words might be a cliché often used by musicians the World over when speaking about their latest venture but that doesn’t make the statement any less true. A concept album, “Maybe In Another Life” is a story told in ten parts which examines longing, self-indulgence, fantasy, manipulation and despair through the eyes of a character that is constantly challenged by their reality. A force in Australian Metalcore, Bloom have long combined fierce sounds with impassioned and emotive lyrics with a focus on themes of grief, love and exile. EP pairing “Past Tense” and “In Passing” set them on their way, the latter landing them a deal with Greyscale Records and opening up a World of touring possibilities…

…with Post-Hardcore leanings the emotive “An Entry” pulls on the heart strings while serving as the introduction to the album title track, cleverly clearing the mind with its delicate approach and captivating nature. The softly sung vocals and intricate guitars then make way for a raging inferno of intense unclean vocal screams, razor sharp riffs and a huge drum sound that dominates the horizon like solar eclipse. Floating between the Melodic side of the genre of bands like Counterparts and the Progressive side like Polaris, “Maybe In Another Life” hits hard and may catch the discerning listener off guard. The weight it carries reaching Deathcore with a vicious bowel clenching vocal moment and breakdown while having a delicious sung chorus that has that sing-a-long ability without losing any of the tension of the verse. A powerful statement piece of a track, its little wonder they chose to use it for the title. Galloping drums then usher in “Siren Song” with yet more scathing vitriol vocally and lyrically, a poison pen narrative about being kept in the dark set to incite mosh pit madness with classy breakdowns and a real gut punch moment that wins the day.

Rich melodies delivered at breakneck pace in “Bound To Your Whispers” find Bloom in the 2003 era of American Metalcore inspired by the Gothenburg sound of Melodic Death Metal, another high quality incendiary offering notched up and attributed to life experience. A lush chorus with a real sense of melancholia has a real warmth to it while the verses are nothing short of caustic battery acid by contrast and there is absolutely no change in pace to allow for either. Naturally with these heavier cuts there was always going to be a melodic moment of clarity and “Carve Yourself Into My Lungs” offers that but the twist in the tail is that the clean phrasings are interwoven with unclean lines. The result is a track that has a real grit and integrity to it cut against a soundscape that is as delicate as it is captivating. After that moment of screaming at the sky, the Alternative Metal of “You & I” is a bad romance, a tale of things that have turned sour and been left behind that works well in the context of the album but lacks the edge and killer instinct of what came before it. Another mid tempo cut follows in “Fragments Of A Dream“, however this one finds the band playing with depth and texture to create something which feels much more rounded, the burst of unclean vocal in the final third making all the difference. Perhaps the concept is an excuse to create something more varied

After that pair of melancholic meanderings a violent burst of Hardcore feels like a 71 second burst from a taser as “Laughing Stock” brings back the heavier elements in abundance. A single verse shows enough malice to make Hawkey a suspect, his bloodstained hands hard to hide. Short but perfectly formed, it has the energy and intensity to bring things back into focus before setting up “An Exit“, a cut which reserves a clean vocal passage for the final third. Slick and front loaded with memorable riffs galore, this one has everything you could possibly want in a Metalcore track without overdoing it. Grand finale? That would be “Through The Threshold, Beyond The Bend“, a tune with a tasteful drop out for a melodic break and spoken word in the centre that rises back up to a soaring glory by the end. A rich and rewarding listen that finishes with a delicate piano moment, this is an album which is perfectly placed to take Bloom onto the international touring circuit should their hearts desire [8/10]

Track Listing