Greaver – The Faun

Concept records are tricky to get right. Allowing the story to overwhelm the songs comes off as self indulgent, but balancing the music and narrative just right creates an emotional attachment and lasting bond with an audience. When “Last Breath” introduces The Faun’s concept through the medium of voicemail messages, there’s a fear that the former will unravel, but the way in which this quirky presentation resonates with the music beneath it, helps place this debut record firmly in the latter.

Fans of Being As An Ocean will be familiar with using narrative to embellish melodic hardcore and Greaver’s sound is not too dissimilar, also drawing parallels to As Cities Burn’s iconic debut Son I Loved You At Your Darkest. Like these acts, the guitars aren’t overly distorted, allowing the clarity to emphasise the intricacy of the guitars, and the vibrant drums keep each song sounding fresh and varied by mixing up tempos and structures. Unlike their aforementioned peers, who utilise clean vocalists to add melody, Greaver opt for fully screamed vocals throughout. The tapping patterns and ambient lead lines of the guitars replace the melody otherwise provided by a clean vocalist, paving the way for vocalists Michael Rozier and Michael Townsel to fully commit to their impassioned screaming, which gives the record a raw and honest level of emotion.

Records with entirely screamed vocals can become monotonous but The Faun offers plenty of musical variation and interest to prevent any such issue. Instrumental tracks dispersed through the record help to break up the flow, and the voicemail messages that are woven into these musical passages not only provide a contrasting break from the aggression of the other tracks, but also tie you into the theme of the album. The messages are voiced by the grieving girlfriend central to the record’s theme, who starts to lose her sanity following the death of her lover, a man whose perspective is told on “A Poisoned Well”. The emotionally charged energy behind every chord and rhythm change makes these instrumental tracks some of the album’s stand out moments and this refreshing and effective method of presentation promotes a connection to the characters in the story.

Greaver’s melancholy instrumentals paint a chilling backdrop to a story filled with grief and suffering. Completed by the emotive screams of the two vocalists, The Faun makes for an emotionally challenging, yet highly engaging record that invites you back to keep digging into its concept. For an accomplished band this would be an excellent achievement, but for a debut album it’s a breathtaking introduction to what this five-piece is capable of.