IN REVIEW: He Is Legend - "Heavy Fruit"

In this day and age, five years is more than enough time for a band to be forgotten, especially a fringe band that never found wide reaching success. It's a testament, then, to the talents of He Is Legend that the half decade gap between albums has only seemed to strengthen their momentum. After releasing a trio of criminally underrated albums from 2004 to 2009, the band went away for a while, and took their time with album four.

To say Heavy Fruit benefits from the extra time and care is kind of like saying water is a pretty good way to stay hydrated. This album finds He Is Legend willing to take a song pretty much anywhere it needs to go to succeed, even if it's in multiple directions at once. Opening track No Visitors zigs and zags through tempos and styles but never dulls its attack, while Something, Something, Something Witchy tips its hat to Pink Floyd and Dillinger Escape Plan pretty much equally while also boasting perhaps the album's most potent chorus.

Their considerable chops are really brought into focus when they explore these varying sounds, almost always to thrilling effect. Take Miserable Company, a slow burning bluesy track that would have gone for the payoff prematurely in another band's hands; He Is Legend builds it up higher to bring it crashing down harder. Then, there's Be Easy, a strutting stunner that incorporates, among other sounds, a Bollywood-inspired guitar lead. Smoker Scoff is the type of effortlessly potent melodic monster that would smash rock radio for a trendier group, but it almost feels like just another day at the office under this group's guidance.

Even the album's most seemingly straightforward moments burst with creativity. This Will Never Work charges from the speakers on a thick groove and meaty riffs, and stealthily throws out five or six musical ideas in its four minutes. It feels generic if you're not paying attention, but upon further inspection is incredibly adventurous. Later in the album, Time To Stain seems like a standard acoustic-laced ballad, but guitars twist and churn just under the surface, adding depth and emotion. When the song crescendos, the hairs on your arm will tell you this is no standard ballad. Plus, true to the album's adventurous nature, it's immediately followed by the heaviest song on the record (ABRACADABRA, which is pretty much full-on metal).

I have a minor gripe with the sequencing, specifically at the end of the first half where I Sleep Just Fine and Beethozart, two (mostly) ballads, are positioned back to back. They're not boring songs by any stretch, but I can't help but think they'd have benefited from a little separation in the context of the album. And the quality does dip just a bit toward the end; though I wouldn't call The Carpet or the closing title track failures, they don't pack quite the same punch as what precedes them.

Despite its small issues (and rest assured, these are small issues), Heavy Fruit far exceeded my expectations going in, and I expected a very good record; it's the work of a band that approaches their songs with confidence and considerable talent, resulting in one of the year's most pleasant surprises. He Is Legend are due proper attention.

August 19, 2014 • Tragic Hero

Highlights This Will Never Work • Something, Something, Something Witchy • Time To Stain