Album Review: Seven Hours After Violet – Seven Hours After Violet (Sumerian Records)

Seven Hours After Violet is the new project from Shavo Odadjian, the legendary bass player of System of a Down. Featuring Taylor Barber (Left to Suffer), Morgoth (platinum-selling producer and guitarist of Winds of Plague), Alejandro Aranda (Scarypoolparty, American Idol) and Josh Johnson (Winds of Plague). The debut self-titled album will be released on October 11th, 2024, via Sumerian Records.

There’s a lot of big names in this band, least of all the name of one Shavo Odadjian. What is System of a Down up to? Who cares, we have Seven Hours After Violet to enjoy. So, let’s get this out of the way now because it’s going to be tiresome as things go forward. This is not System of a Down, and that’s a good thing. What it is, is something new and exciting from within the world of metalcore. Something creatively interesting with only a few ‘meh’ moments to impact the overall thing.

Happily, those moments are far from the most notable thing about it, with the album kicking off in style with a series of varied heavy-hitters. First, there’s Paradise, which gets the party started with fast and heavy rhythms, filthy sounding groove, and clever touches of melody here and there. It, and the following Alive, with its balance of mania and melody, make this album immediately stand out from the metalcore crowd.

Thank goodness for that as we really don’t need another bog-standard metalcore album.

Unfortunately, having said that, along comes Sunrise with its unimpressive heavy parts and uneventful melodic tones. There’s a solid chorus here, and when the vocals (both clean and harsh) go for it, it’s a more interesting track. However, if you’re trying to sell this album to someone, this probably isn’t the track to play.

What is the track to play is Go! because it’s bloody weird as hell, and that is way more compelling. The insane speed of the instrumentation, the absolute devastation of the harsh vocals, and then there’s the chorus. Hilariously anthemic, even though it’s got an air of laziness about it. It’s so much fun.

An aspect that shouldn’t be ignored and regardless of lulls, the enjoyment that this group are having here is clear. You just have to get past the forced, bland melodrama of a track like Float and the forgettable Cry… to find lovable beasts like the choppy intensity of Glink, the stompy infectiousness of Abandon, and the grandeur that Radiance proudly showcases. Back and forth the latter part of this album goes, yet, no-one can deny the lure of what is happened here. Hence the reason why it is still a fairly compelling listen come the final two tracks, Gloom and Feel. Neither of which are strong enough to have staying power, but still manage to be interesting.

Curiosity is going to draw a lot of people to Seven Hours After Violet, and while some may not stay around after hearing this album, many will have found their new favourite band.

Seven Hours After Violet – Seven Hours After Violet Track Listing:

1. Paradise
2. Alive
3. Sunrise
4. Go!
5. Float
6. Glink
7. Cry…
8. Abandon
9. Radiance
10. Gloom
11. Feel

Links

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