Heavy Seas – Everything Breaks (Sell The Heart / Little Rocket Records / Rad Girlfriend Records)

It’s been a while since I planned to check out the Sell The Heart Records catalog, but many things were on the way. Finally, that day has come, so I picked a tremendous band for this particular occasion. As far as I am informed, Heavy Seas are a relatively new post-hardcore trio from Chicago and the record I wanted to present to you today is their debut album. It is also a vocal debut of Jeff Dean, who previously played in Dead Ending, Airstream Futures, and All Eyes West. Sell The Heart Records teamed up with Little Rocket Records from UK and Rad Girlfriend Records from the US for this particular release. Both records labels are no strangers to these pages, and we covered some of their releases before.

Everything Breaks contains ten post-hardcore compositions, but as is usually the case with the newer bands, there is more than meets the eye. This material reveals so many musical directions as you delve deeper into these tunes. Besides the sheer dominance of post-hardcore, Heavy Seas incorporate heavy dosages of emo, indie rock, and melodic punk rock. The album also carries strong shoegaze, dream, and psychedelic vibes, but this kind of ambiance doesn’t spoil the initial post-hardcore direction of the group. Each composition is emotionally charged, so you may notice how the group continuously levitates between calmer and more aggressive segments. There are also some sequences where Heavy Seas simultaneously use both melodic and aggressive sides to achieve the desired sound.

The entire album bursts with powerful chord progressions, heavy riffs, thoughtfully assembled leads, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic delicacies that are enhancing this material even more. Heavy Seas invested a lot of their time in songwriting, composing, recording, and producing their debut, and that’s vividly hearable from scratch to finish. The group sounds both soothing, heavy, and dynamic throughout the entire album without losing consistency. The rhythm section holds the beforementioned guitar shreds with flawlessly performed basslines and energetic rhythmic acrobatics. The beauty of this band lay in their ability to incorporate nineties post-hardcore with contemporary indie and emo sound. Everything Breaks comes on vinyl and streaming platforms. Head over to Sell The Heart Records, Little Rocket Records, or Rad Girlfriend Records for more information about ordering.