Over the years,
Cloud Nothings
have collaborated with different producers to dive into different sides of their music. Respectively,
Steve Albini
and
John Congleton
emphasized the band's rough edges on
Attack on Memory
Here and Nowhere Else
, while
John Goodmanson
cleaned them up slightly on
Life Without Sound
. For their fifth album,
recruited
Randall Dunn
, known for his work with
Sunn O)))
among other righteously heavy acts. While
Last Burning Building
isn't their transformation into a metal band,
Dunn
's expertise at making loud bands sound great helps
bring the rawness of their concerts into the studio. At times,
resembles an especially well-recorded live album in how well it captures the band's dynamics. After a decade of screaming his lungs out,
Dylan Baldi
's voice is a well-earned, well-worn rasp that
doesn't shy away from on pop-inclined songs like "Leave Him Now" and "Another Way of Life" or moodier tracks such as "In Shame" and "Offer an End." It's a sound that's just as vital to
' music as in-the-red guitars and frantic drumming, both of which are on full display starting with the blazing opener "On an Edge," which is the closest they've come to matching the intensity of their hardcore influences. The heft
brings to the band's sound is perfect for "The Echo of the World," where climactic riffs elevate the song to towering proportions, while their mix of distortion and soul-searching has rarely sounded as effortless as it does on "So Right So Clean." Likewise,
's extra muscle helps the ten-minute centerpiece "Dissolution" keep listeners riveted from start to finish. Five albums in,
version of maturing is to go harder and louder than ever -- and they sound all the better for it. ~ Heather Phares