THE CORRECT OPINION: A Final Kiss on Poisoned Lips
Cover from Once More on Bandcamp.
Elias Callen and Dannon Walker
I don’t have anything to say in this preamble. I love you. Screamo isn’t a real genre.
Yours heretically,
Dannon Walker
I do have something to say. I hate you. Screamo is my favorite genre.
Overall, what can be categorized as in the genre of “screamo” has gotten so muddled that some have come to believe that it is a dead genre. They could not be more wrong, seeing as I come across more and more modern, what I would claim to be “6th wave emo,” which captures the raw emotion and melody of first and second wave emo with all the violence of the hardcore scene that grew alongside it. Screamo is a genre constantly reborn, like a great phoenix that rises in the underground and then flies into the crisp blue sky, to be poached by the curator of a “skramz” playlist on Spotify.
Yours obtusely,
Elias Callen
This month we bring you, per Elias’s choice, the first release of San Antonio-based Screamoviolence (coined by Dannon just now) band Once More, 2024’s A Final Kiss on Poisoned Lips. It’s a release that sets lofty expectations for the band’s future, demonstrating both an understanding of genre conventions and solid foundational elements in the instrumentals and vocals. Lacking most of the twinkly elements many now associate with screamo due to the 2010s revival, Once More finds itself more in the new wave of thumpier emoviolence fusion with metallic leanings, much like Wisconsin’s own Diane Selwyn.
ITS NOT A MUSIC, IT’S AN EXPERIENCE
Elias
A Final Kiss on Poisoned Lips IS in fact a screamo album, and it makes that readily apparent, without trying to disguise it as something else, with harsh, higher pitched vocals that cut through its instrumentation. “Alchoholics don't run in my family, they drive,” my favorite song on the album, has an intro that intrigued me like no other screamo/metalcore song since I first heard “And the Cat Turned To Smoke…” It’s followed by a loud and painful song that imbues within me a desire to dance. The following songs are other great examples of what screamo could be (notably “Washing Away of Wrongs (Today, Tomorrow)”) but it is not without its flaws.
Unfortunately, the first three songs feel as though they could come from any “skramz” playlist. They are painfully boring at points and feel like they could have been released by any local act and are simply not innovative. Its same-y drum beats guitar riffs whose essence has been done before a thousand times…I want to hear them do some insane things with the genre, bend it into their own shape. This doesn't necessarily mean they are bad songs, not by a long shot, but what kind of music purist would I be if I cannot nitpick and complain about things that don’t matter and only I care about? However, I believe that their stand out characteristics make me excited to follow the band's progression and anticipate the next releases that they have, something that is increasingly becoming a scarce commodity in the world of screamo. It's not perfect; perfection can only be achieved by Patrick Monahan on “Hey Soul Sister,” but I’ll be damned to HELL before I give up on even a sliver of promise. 7//10 I BELIEVE IN SCREAMO<3
Dannon
Once More’s A Final Kiss on Poisoned Lips is full of elements that I enjoy. The vocals are a highlight, with Ben Rollin’s tone and slightly understated delivery of the false chord working masterfully with the instrumentals and pushing the album in a more defined direction rather than remaining comfortably within the norm. When the band gets into a groove, they stay there and really have the ability to create a mood. My main issue with the release lies in the opening two tracks that, in my opinion, break from the rest of the album’s form and utterly fail to differentiate Once More from other bands. Like was stated, it’s not that this was executed poorly— it’s actually extremely competent— but just in a way that’s uninteresting to me. (Do NOT ask me to make anything better.) It’s brought back later with the wonderful procession of tracks 4-6, the standout being “Washing Away of Wrongs (Today, Tomorrow),” a very emotional sendoff to the album. I think as a whole it's a 6.5/10. It’d be closer to an 8 if I wasn’t so unenthusiastic about the beginning. Still a wonderful band, album, and a great set of songs. Watch Texas— there are a lot of great acts coming from the Lone Star State these days. (I am only referring to the two biggest cities, as I am when I mention any state.)
