Loom

Selva Molhada (2009)

mikexdude

Loom's Selva Moldhada builds its way through 10 dynamic and layered tracks of technical screamo. Imagine Hot Cross' Drive Like Jehu riffing, dial it down to five, add a violin, and throw in a vocalist whose tone is as consistent as a nü-screamo vocalist. Voila! Loom.

There's a lot of unorthodox playing on Selva, but where Loom really flourishes is in accessibility; in "Weaving" the sing/scream contrast seems seamless and hardly contrived. When shouting "all those peripheral numbers decaying / listen, listen to the lights melt and devastate, devastate inhibition," it's obvious the lyrics are cryptic and seemingly nonsensical, but oddly enough, they work very well with the music and the artwork.

But even with moments of singing and quick tempo changes, there isn't much that helps distinguish the songs from each other upon the initial listen. The only real respites are "Asphalt" and "Cave," that are more mid-tempo post-hardcore rhythmn (vaguely Small Brown Bike-inspired) than spazzy screamo. The main issue is that the violin melody in every song sounds the same and accomplishes the same mood on every section.

It's really interesting to see a relatively unknown band take on some hefty mainstream appeal, while executing it better than those who have everyone's attention. Loom shows some real potential for the future -- they just need to do a little bit of tweaking.