Colossal Rains
Feral Sorrow
MEMORY MUSIC
Whenever a music genre spreads like wildfire—accelerated these days by social media—praise, reverence, respect, or even mere attention eludes a horde of unsung bands of that ilk who helped start the trend in the first place. A case in point is Blacklisted, a critical hardcore band from Philly that marinated in the underground from 2003 to 2018 and only got marginal appreciation when they briefly reunited in 2023. Now, with hardcore arguably more popular than ever, three principal members of Blacklisted are back and taking no prisoners in the form of a new project called Colossal Rains. Taking Blacklisted’s limitless ferocity down a notch, the new project has created a winning debut album that embraces the joy of hardcore instead of any resentment they could’ve spewed all over Feral Sorrow.
With that in mind, Colossal Rains is a collection of hardcore vets who have matured and brushed off any chips on their shoulders, and clearly devoted a ton of time, care, and energy into a true delight of a record. A case can be made that Feral Sorrow is one of the most impossibly pleasant-sounding post-hardcore records in recent memory. Fans of Truckfighters, Kvelertak, Down, and other stoner-metal and hard-rock bands will find refuge in Feral Sorrow. Even though Colossal Rains isn’t an unfiltered hardcore band, they wisely linked themselves to the genre’s heavy hitters by enlisting producer Will Yip, whose credits include working with Turnstile and Title Fight—in addition to Blacklisted. His treatment of Feral Sorrow is haunting, as he eschews bright and clean sounds with a darker, gothic tone, as if draping a shroud over a statue. The decision to obscure Feral Sorrow from start to finish functions as well as lyrical storytelling in ensuring the record’s consistency.
While that tone permeates Feral Sorrow, the songwriting over the course of the record is vast in range. “Entombed City” is, somehow, both a doom song and a ballad. Opening track “Deadlights” also takes its time, calling to mind Cult of Luna and even Converge’s milder material. Colossal Rains appear to have been determined to dig deep for devastating riffs instead of blue-streak songs. “Just yesterday I was so young / Only 21,” frontman Gee Hirsch sings—that’s right, sings—on “Pirouettes.” But maturity and the wisdom that comes with it (not to mention the measured musicianship executed by the other three band members) play integral roles on Feral Sorrow. “I’m well aware of what’s out there,” Hirsch continues on the same song. “And what the dark brings / I’ve deciphered dreams / And what they mean / I know what the stars bring.”
Surely, these guys have been through some shit. But in sharing their inner demons and unfiltered emotions, Feral Sorrow is Colossal Rains’ gift to those of us who haven’t achieved that level of enlightenment yet. Long may this new band of talented veteran musicians reign.
