Once upon a time, hardcore was a form of music that thrived on passion, integrity and anger. It was a visceral, uncompromising outpouring of emotion by guys and girls that really, y’know, meant it. In the intervening years, the genre has been pulled in so many different directions by so many artists that that initial purpose has been somewhat diluted. Sure, there are still bands staying the true course, but for every Shai Hulud there are a hundred Emmures – bands who devolve what was initially a primitive but pure style of music into puerile, thoughtless trash.
Leipzig’s Empty Handed, thankfully, fall firmly on the right side of the fence when it comes to honest, impassioned metallic hardcore. The band’s second album, ‘In Between The Goodbyes’, is filled to the brim with aggressive, heartfelt anthems that never fall foul of the macho posturing found in so much heavy music these days. That’s not to suggest that the five-piece are in any way a retro act – the ten tracks found here are pleasingly modern in sound and scope, with just the right amount of polish so as to not drown the songs in production, whilst keeping the sound bright and clear.
After an atmospheric intro, the album kicks off proper with the second track ‘Atelophobia’ – for those interested, this refers to the fear of imperfection, or not being good enough. The song sets the framework for much of the album – breakneck hardcore punctuated with pummelling breakdowns and soaring, melodic guitars that give everything an epic feel without crossing the line into overblown cheese. There’s an echo of early Parkway Drive in Empty Handed’s overall sound – from the way they’re able to create big, chest pounding sing-alongs without ever having to deploy traditional clean vocals, to the clever use of finger-tapping over some of the chunkier breakdowns.
Lyrically the band follow well worn paths but manage to remain earnest in how they deliver their personal tales of relationship woes, anxieties about life on the road, and the general struggles of living. Anyone can scream and sound angry, but frontman Hannes brings real conviction to every single word that escapes his throat – an impressive feat for any vocalist, let alone one not even operating in his first language. All but one song on the album is bellowed entirely in English, with only second song proper ‘Cold’ seeing the band’s native German tongue slip out. This certainly isn’t a downside, however – singing in English obviously opens the band up to a much wider audience, and their grasp of our fair language is impeccable – they’re certainly more verbose than a number of English or American bands we could name (but absolutely won’t, because we’re nice like that).
Empty Handed aren’t reinventing any wheels on ‘In Between The Goodbyes’, but not every band or album needs to revolutionise music to prove their worth. What the band do serve up is a solid, energised half hour of engaging modern metalcore that wears its heart on its sleeve for all to see. In a music scene full of poseurs, it’s refreshing to hear a group that pour every ounce of themselves into their art and still rip it up this hard.
JAMES LEE