I love LA’s Aeges, the band puzzling us all by taking massive post-hardcore riffs and combining them with rock swagger and, somewhere in there, a street-smart hardcore sensibility. Things get murkier when you realize there’s connections to extremities like 16 and Pelican in this band, and here, songs like “Blind & Dreaming” show that in the arena-sludge riffs, even if the end result is slick, smooth, and polished and ends up sounding way more Jupiter than Until Your Heart Stops. But Jupiter ruled and few bands scratch that itch, so here comes Aeges with their latest album to help out, things kicking off with the excellent “Drifter”, a concise and energetic opener; “Pain” has the songwriting smarts of Jimmy Eat World, but, like, way heavier. This song is huge, and this song should be huge, a radio anthem in a world where radio anthems kick ass. 

“Drink The Water” and “Believer” are just perfect mid-album pieces, the band really using ebbs and flows perfectly; again, I’m thinking mid-era Cave In in a pretty big way, Aeges—working as a trio for the first time on this album—showing an incredible amount of restraint in helping these songs, particularly the stunning “Believer”, fly high. “Dreamstate” brings The Riff, that sort of Quicksand-loving huge groove that doesn’t sound cheeseball at all that Aeges specialize in, and closer “A Room Full Of Mirrors” showcases some of the band’s best vocal harmonizing to date. I also love the brevity on this album: with seven songs in just 31 minutes, the album doesn’t wear out its welcome, which some of their others have threatened to do. Instead, when it’s over, you’re thrust onto the LA streets at night, thinking, man, the clash and clang of the big city is alright if it creates art like this.