Force Rise the Sun

Black hole fun

dB Rating: 8/10

Release Date: August 7th, 2015
Label: Prosthetic

The ’90s. Maybe even the early 2000s. That’s when bombastic, industrial alt-rock with shimmering melodies had its moment in the spotlight. You know, it was real rocking and sort of heavy and packed with texture and way overly processed on purpose. You remember. Well, so do InAeona, and they are ready to let you know it on Force Rise the Sun.

The band, whose only major misstep is a name I can neither pronounce nor spell correctly, is a three-piece that has embraced something that exists in an uncertain history where it’s not old enough to really be retro, but it definitely does not mesh well with current trends. What’s important, though, is that this isn’t a packaged sound that has bypassed songwriting. Sometimes it’s dancey, other times it’s atmospheric, but for the most part these are songs that try out a few things until they inevitably find an immense riff, top it with echoic, lung-collapsing female vocals, then move on and do the same rad shit over and over.

Considering that certain genres are now being squeezed of their very final drops of relevancy, it makes sense that unalloyed ’90s worship would start getting traction again, and no doubt in a few years this resurgence will have worn out its welcome. But by then it will be bands desperately trying to grab onto a sound they know works. InAeona have genuine love for this music, and all throughout Force Rise the Sun, they demand you love it as well.

— Shane Mehling
Review originally printed in the August 2015 issue (#130).