Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea
A fortress of eyes and gnashing teeth, in judgment they’re staring back at me.
Four years and 2 EPs after their debut studio LP Eternal Blue, Canadian metal band Spiritbox have released their long-awaited sophomore full-length effort, Tsunami Sea. The album sees the band put forward new and improved iterations of all their best qualities.
The first thing that immediately stands out about Tsunami Sea is that the performances from vocalist Courtney LaPlante on this record are absolutely brilliant. They are truly on a new, all-time high level even compared to previous Spiritbox projects. LaPlante is supremely charismatic as the focal point of the tracks, delivering both clean vocals and a variety of screams with incredible skill and conviction. What’s more - the songwriting on the album is also fully handled by her, and is very strong, exploring several introspective, vulnerable themes on tracks like “Perfect Soul” and “Deep End”, while also not shying away from the more brutal side of things on songs like “Soft Spine” or “Black Rainbow”. The hooks on the record are also fantastic: the melodic choruses are beautiful, combining high levels of catchiness with authentic, raw emotion; and the non-melodic choruses blow you away with their sheer impact and force.
The instrumentals are no less impressive. The tones of each instrument, particularly the guitars, are dense, rich and heavy, carrying some real muscle behind them. The overall production is enormous and eerie, creating an haunting, beautiful grandiosity that's impossible to not be captivated by, even on the angrier tracks. Spiritbox have also long been known in the metal world for their top-notch riff work; on Tsunami Sea, they stay true to this, delivering some of the best riffs of their career. The structuring of each track feels very well thought-out and meticulous; in particular, the breakdowns are perfectly placed within the tracks to deliver maximum impact.
The structuring of the album itself also feels very intentional; kicking things off immediately with the brutal, earth-shattering double punch of “Fata Morgana” and “Black Rainbow”, which sets up a variation between heavier and more pop-friendly tracks throughout the record, and forces the listener to immediately pay full attention to what comes next. What follows immediately after is the second single “Perfect Soul” - what I believe is the best song on the album. With a punchy, instantly memorable riff, captivatingly emotional songwriting and vocals from LaPlante, and a soaring chorus with amazing backing vocals from bassist Josh Gilbert, it feels to me like the perfect Spiritbox track.
However, the thing that makes Spiritbox’s second album truly stand out, even in comparison to the first, is the fact it doesn't shy away from experimentation. Tracks like “No Loss, No Love”, “Crystal Roses” and others have some weird, trippy moments, which break up the onslaught of sound and show some real artistic nuance from the band.
In conclusion, Tsunami Sea does everything right for an album in its genre: doesn't fall victim to cliches or templates, isn't overproduced, has brilliant performances both vocally and instrumentally, is written and structured fantastically, and balances impact with emotion extremely well. All of this makes it one of the absolute best metal albums of the past decade at the very least.
9.0/10