On his 2018 full-length debut,
Death Lust
,
Chastity
singer, songwriter, and bandleader
Brandon Williams
molded the project into a heavy but sometimes syrupy amalgam of metallic hardcore and dreamy psychedelia that nodded to '90s alternative guitar gods.
Williams
looked to the small Canadian town he lived in for the inspiration funneled into
's songs, and he masterfully captured all the boredom, angst, and daydreamy hope for something else felt by teenagers in suburban towns for generations. With second album
Home Made Satan
switches gears subtly, and in several different directions. Sonically, the songs veer slightly away from
' early hardcore impulses. Where the
Deftones
were an easy reference point for the more intense thrashers on
, when things get loud on riff-based blast like "Spirit Meetup" or the dynamic tension of "Anxiety,"
look more to '90s radio grunge-pop acts (more
Bush
than
Nirvana
) or the mall rock heaviness of
My Chemical Romance
. These moments of aggression are broken up by uncharacteristically jangly songs like "The Girls I Know Don't Think So" or the slow-burning pop catchiness of album highlight "Sun Poisoning." On songs like these, as well as album opener "Flames," the group's usually overpowering sonic assault is tempered into something more in line with early
Wild Nothing
DIIV
, or any number of bands equally indebted to shoegaze volume and
Smiths
-y melancholy. The flow of the album is uneven, hopping between these different modes somewhat jaggedly, but the overall production is clearer and more immediate in its toned-down approach. Lyrically,
departs from the vague youthful dissatisfaction of earlier albums for far more direct political statements. These can be as straightforward as the repeated sentiment of "There's a special place in hell for the Christian right" on "Dead Relatives" or as surreal as lines about credit card fraud and youthful rebellion on the nostalgic and brutal "I Still Feel the Same." With
peel back some layers that obscured the personal perspectives behind the emotional push on their debut. As a result, the songs make a deeper impact and the ideas they present linger after the music fades. ~ Fred Thomas