The Burden to Become Fact, New York art-hardcore quintet Detach the Islands’ debut studio release, is razor sharp. Seriously, there are parts of this album that are truly the sonic equivalent of jagged blades and gouging claws, many of the intricate arrangements coalescing into maelstroms of abrasive guitar stabs and throat-tearing vocals. The whiplash songwriting of “Who Holds My Head Down?”, the short instrumental that opens the album, is a fitting introduction to the band’s enrapturing musical chemistry; though almost always chaotic and disorienting, the five members move as one entity, every pound of the drums helping to drive home a particularly harsh chord or the desperate vocals seeming to pull everything upwards with their climbing insanity. Also present in Detach the Islands’ eclectic palette is a distinct emoviolence element, cropping up in the form of melodic interludes—exemplified by “Placebo”—and moments of cathartic, unfettered passion. Yes, there’s a lot going on in The Burden to Become Fact, something you could probably pick up on just reading this review, but this young band’s sense of pacing, transition, and dynamics are nothing short of incredible, and ambitious tracks like “Love Is the Miracle We Fabricate” and “Refugee Anatomy” are sure to become classics.
Noise Not Music 