Band:	Respire
Album:	Hiraeth
Style:	Post-Rock, Screamo, Atmospheric black metal, Post hardcore
Release date:	July 26, 2024
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. Keening
02. The Match, Consumed
03. Distant Light Of Belonging
04. First Snow
05. Home Of Ash
06. Voiceless; Nameless
07. The Sun Sets Without Us
08. We Grow Like Trees In Rooms Of Borrowed Light
09. Do The Birds Still Sing?
10. Farewell (In Standard)

The “post-everything” Canadian collective Respire return with the same grand sample of ingredients, but this time, the mix of screamo, blackgaze and chamber music is more engaging than ever before.

I discovered Respire thanks to Radu’s review on their previous album, Black Line. What quickly drew me in was the delightfully blasting and noisy combination of genres both volatile and emotional, like post-hardcore, screamo and blackgaze, along with gorgeous chamber music. The result ended up being both highly aggressive and touching. There is dedication to the craft taken by this band and their extended family of guest musicians that is so deeply endearing that it’s hard to resist getting sucked into their world. So just like the crazy music collector that I am, it didn’t take long for me to dive head first into their discography.

One of the things that impressed me the most about Respire is how they nailed the balance between the in-your-face aggression and the celestial beauty right from the start, as Gravity And Grace was a great album in its own right even though it had a rawer sound. Things went smooth and steady with the sophomore Dénouement and its purely classical companion Memorial. But I must say that Memorial was a somewhat flawed experiment for me. I think the biggest selling point of a band like Respire is the marriage of different sounds and textures, so just focusing on one aspect is not ideal.

Before listening to Hiraeth, I considered Black Line their most aggressive work. Now that I’ve had time to digest Respire’s new record, I think that comparison still stands. But if I thought the combination of sounds and the songwriting skills were great on previous records, then it is even better on Hiraeth. Not only is it a much more varied record, giving plenty of time to each style to have its moment in the spotlight, but it also delivers far better, smoother transitions with a crisp production to boot. The opening track “Keening”, along with other songs like “The Sun Sets Without Us” and “We Grow Like Trees In Rooms Of Borrowed Light”, are fantastic achievements in complex, cohesive songwriting. As my colleague Radu pointed out in his review of Black Line, Respire delivers a very overwhelming experience, but in the nicest of ways. The cacophony of sounds brought by the core “rock band” and the more unorthodox strings, synths and brass instruments is nothing short of heavenly, pushed even further by the solemn clean vocals, piercing shrieks and hardcore shouts.

What could be described as an energised Godspeed You! Black Emperor if they discovered the wonders of extreme hardcore/metal or an alternative A Forest Of Stars turned screamo, Respire presents a very unique experience. Hiraeth is a harsh yet inspiring, colourful march to heaven.