Arriving nearly a decade after his acclaimed debut,
Grist,
Aaron Spectre's second album as
Drumcorps is a step forward in terms of songwriting, with
Spectre singing many of the songs himself rather than relying on samples. The album continues the frenetic editing and smashed-up beats of his prior work, but songs like "Cradle to Grave" could almost fit on a commercial rock station (with the curse words edited out, of course). There's still plenty of brief, grindcore-like sample exercises like "Tap Tap Tap" and "With Sticks and Stones," and "We Turned at a Dozen Places, for Love Is a Duel" is a detour into static-covered atmospheric guitar drifting. The album gets more tender and soul-baring toward its conclusion, with song titles like "Headstrong & Heartfoolish" and "My Heart Flies to Where You Are," but it feels like
Spectre is expanding his emotional range rather than merely going soft. In fact, those tracks almost feel like a more electricity-charged version of cinematic post-rock groups like
Explosions in the Sky. While not as intense or direct as
Grist,
Falling Forward is still an astounding album. ~ Paul Simpson