It’s Everyone Else – Heaven Is An Empty Room LP (Noise Appeal Records)

It’s time for some more Noise Appeal Records-related artists. Of course, It’s Everyone Else are not strangers to our pages. I had a chance to listen to and write about their latest full-length record, Pirouette, a couple of weeks ahead of the release date. That particular full-length was an introduction to the luxurious music of this Slovenian/Austrian duo, and I was more than interested in checking out their previous recordings and writing a couple of words about them. Heaven Is An Empty Room is their third full-length album released in 2016 and a predecessor to Pirouette. It slightly differs from their latest recordings, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Quite the contrary, I find it interesting how these folks use all the instrumentations to their advantage, and the result is more than positive.

Heaven Is An Empty Room is a very diverse album that enormously differs from Pirouette. On this particular material, It’s Everyone Else span several complementary music genres to achieve the desired sound. Perhaps digital hardcore comes to mind first, but there is more than meets the eye. You’ll hear some of the finest properties of industrial, post-hardcore, post-rock, noise rock, indie, synth, ambient, harsh noise, noise, and electronic music crossing all the time. I must admit decades have passed since I heard a digital hardcore album as good as this one. Of course, many fishes swimming at the digital hardcore pond could match these criteria. Still, no one reached the peak of creativity like It’s Everyone Else on this particular material. There’s something in each of these ten compositions that classify Heaven Is An Empty Room as creme de la creme of digital hardcore.

But of course, as I said above, It’s Everyone Else isn’t only about digital hardcore, and their music includes many analog and synth orchestrations as well. You’ll notice how analog synths work to the advantage of their sound while simultaneously applying to the drum sequences and various samples. I adore how they included so many ambient patterns, drones, noises, and other experimental movements to uplift this material even more. These noisy maneuvers contribute to the ferociousness of the Heaven Is An Empty Room but also settle down the atmosphere to a nearly cathartic point when necessary. It’s Everyone Else has that recognizable avant-garde approach that gives a whole new outlook on how some subgenres of extreme music could sound if performed differently. It’s just one of many qualities that put Heaven Is An Empty Room on top, and I advise you to pay attention to this album and their entire discography. Head to Noise Appeal Records for more information about ordering.