Peaceless, the premier album from England’s Lock & Key, has got bloody clout. Toiling with bitter verses and breaking it up with transformative choruses, and building a complex fracas of emotion within a clear and crispy production. So when Lock & Key are heavy they’re very heavy but when they’re grinding you with toasty melodies they’re even heavier.
An impressive debut album that’s not to be trifled with and not an album to pull punches, the featured intense riffing is enough to inspire strong feelings of empowerment. Add in lyrically waxing from front man Rich Lardner and Peaceless turns into a score of anthemic hardcore tunes, with each song tracking grip like musical exo-armor and slaying silence with callous vitality.
The structure of Peaceless is best when it deviates from the standard hardcore breaks and meddles instead with full-on hard and heaviness. The percussion is prevalent enough throughout the mix but doesn’t elaborate the rhythm during pace breaks which is more of a genre trope than a real concern. The one, two, three, jazz hands moments in the song writing collapses the built up tension Peaceless tirelessly creates.
There’s an ominous force that’s motivating from behind the music, eposing itself in the unscrupulous song writing and poised harshness of the melodic riffing. With this being their monolithic entrance, Lock & Keys’ future releases will be under scrutiny in comparison.
8/10
