Communic, Hiding from the world

After a string of albums below expectations for me, that left me wondering if I really became that hard to please, Communic’s Hiding from the world is here to put my mind at ease. It’s an excellent release, on par with what Communic have gotten me used to. Dark, brooding, intense, full of angst, melodious and progressive, Hiding from the world is everything I longed for.

It’s not very different from the old records, both musically and structurally. The melancholic doomy atmosphere is present throughout the entire album, as are the lengthy swaying tracks. Although I wouldn’t call any of the songs catchy, they have the wonderful characteristic of remaining stuck with you. And it’s not that “I’ve heard this simple part ten thousand times and now can’t get it out of my head”, it’s a different type of memorable. It’s more like they linger with you, both in terms of melodic line and the state they create.

There is a sort of simplicity in the riffs and themes, but the way they evolve creates surprise and complexity. In fact growth is an important part of Communic’s music and Hiding from the world makes no exception. When you look back at where you started it’s sometimes easy to forget it’s the same song, but in the moment all transitions seem so smooth, like the most natural progression. And this is where length helps, most tracks go around the 7-8 minute mark and I personally love music that has time to build and add layers, even if some of it lasts for one or two iterations too long.

As it is with most Communic albums, it’s hard to pick a favourite. Hiding from the world is incredibly well rounded and every moment is a joy. My temple of pride is beautiful in its morose intensity and the dramatic operatic vocals of the chorus make my soul twirl. Face in the crowd is blunt and heavy, with some thrash elements that eventually give way to a bit of doom, with long steady notes. Born without a heart is sorrowful and touching and has my heart tied up in knots. Scavengers await plays with rhythms, going from settled to headbanging and back to contained.

But the song that touched me the most is Forgotten. Despite of the fact it’s pretty much the same piece repeated for almost 10 minutes, I love how honest and powerful it sounds. I don’t know if it’s inspired by personal experience, but the hurt over how all the beautiful moments of the relation will be forgotten, and only the pain will remain appears so real that I can’t help but feel that same regret. It’s such a great example of how you don’t need flowers and the most impressive shredding to make beautiful music, but just raw human emotion.

It must be abundantly clear by now that I love this album (in fact, I love this band and I can’t believe they are so so underrated). To me it’s the perfect mix between the intriguing side of progressive music and the heart wrenching side of gothic and doom metal. It has an effect similar to Paradise Lost, even though it’s not exactly similar musically.

I have the sensation that there are so many other ways to describe this record, because of how complex all my emotions and thoughts are while listening to it, but there is a “go with the flow” quality to Communic’s music that makes it hard to pinpoint ideas and always leaves me with the impression that I missed out on mentioning something relevant. I was saying in my Where echoes gather post that my mind is a jumbled mess while trying to review Communic and no, that hasn’t changed. I kind of like it, actually, when it comes to music I prefer to feel rather than think.

I’ve listened to Hiding from the world several times now and every time I discover more and fall in love with it more. It speaks to my mind and speaks to my soul and the only downside is that it’s a full experience, meaning that I feel the need to listen to it from start to finish to properly enjoy it. As it usually goes with this kind of music, it takes a bit of dedication. But if you shut out the rest of the world, the rewards are beautiful. And frankly, it’s not even that hard. Just a few notes and I am hooked, and when it ends I just want to go back and listen to it again.