Between the Heart and the Synapse by the Receiving End of Sirens
In my experience, there aren’t very many post-hardcore albums that are considered progressive rock more so due to their artistic and poetic composition than their complex and technical playing, and The Receiving End of Sirens’ debut LP Between the Heart and the Synapse is certainly one of these few. Released in April of 2005 and running at a lengthy 70:58, this album is, in my opinion, one of the best and most underrated of the genre.
Lyrics- One of the things I’m beginning to realize so heavily about myself in writing these paragraphs is how deeply I enjoy emo music, as interesting as that is to admit in writing and to the few that read this. That’s really only relevant since it plays a big role in how amazing I find the lyrics on this album. They’re personal, which obviously I enjoy, but somewhat distant and enigmatic in a sense, which I find interesting. TREOS focuses on more distinct themes, concerning lyrics typically found in this genre of music, and connects those themes to complex feelings and thoughts. The theme in this album is generally war or other political/social conflicts, but they aren’t influenced by true events, nor do they intend to seem like they are; the theme serves as a metaphor. While a lot of other bands write about personal experiences that are more common, as real and powerful they are, Between the Heart and the Synapse is about destroying evidence in a trial to evade a prison sentence and being betrayed by spies. War, espionage, the prison escape; these are all metaphors, ultimately for guilt, and a human desire to be rid of it by any means possible. In mostly every song, there are battles of conscience, through which the lyrics navigate feeling of guilt and shame, and a desire to escape the body and circumstance it plagues. The motif resounds throughout the album: “Somehow, for now, this skin will have to do. This is the last night in my body.”
Instrumentation- I think I picked this album up when I was around thirteen, so at that time I wasn’t necessarily thinking too deeply about the music I listened to. But even then, I could have said with full certainty that the vocals on this album play a large role in what sets it apart from the rest. Most post-hardcore bands that I can think of have at most two vocalists, and in those cases, one is the clean vocalist and the other is the dirty vocalist (think Underoath, A Lot Like Birds, Dance Gavin Dance, etc.). In TREOS, they have not one or two clean vocalists, but three. It’s also worth mentioning that one of these three vocalists is Casey Crescenzo, who now fronts the Dear Hunter. His influence and vocal style is most definitely noticeable on this album. All vocalists sing constantly, which opens the floor for outstanding vocal harmonies and intricate layers. There are beautiful a capella outros, choruses where they sing completely different lyrics and melodies simultaneously, and of course the incredible sonic variety provided by having three unique vocalists on one album. I think this album is tremendously orchestral, which is the best word I can think of to describe it, and the vocals are one of the biggest reasons why- there may not be a literal orchestra present on any of the songs, but the rich layers and harmonies provided by the vocals act as a beautiful, melodic section.
Then of course there are the actual instrumentals on the album, and I see them too as orchestral and progressive in their own way. Of course, any music that has different sections- such as the guitar, drum, bass, and vocal sections in almost every band- resembles an orchestra in one way or another. But in this specific circumstance, TREOS takes such great care and has such attention to detail that it truly makes the orchestral aspects of their music apparent. They also have a certain balance between simplicity and complexity, tense disharmony and satisfying harmony, that makes their music orchestral and almost akin to Classical or Romantic music. The album starts with a fast, energetic, and slightly dark-sounding track that builds and suddenly breaks to a soft outro, then segues to an introspective and bright song. It’s like a symphony. The record also has lead riffs, chord progressions, melodies, motifs, segues, and other random aspects that’d all sound quite well if it were transferred to an actual orchestra. And I don’t think it would simply sound like a fun Vitamin String Quartet cover of an emo/pop song; this is beautiful music.
Their use of synths and other electronic devices that weren’t as common back then are another example of their proggy approach. Other bands may have used synths and keyboards every now and then, but they and TREOS were on the cusp of using that technology at all in this style of music, let alone regularly. Regardless, TREOS used synths and electronic percussion in unique ways, and quite often too- in practically every song on the album. The way they performed these parts was impressive as well. This video is from a 2004 performance of “…Then I Defy You, Stars” at the UConn Student Union. It seems somewhat unimpressive now, but a generally unpopular band performing at a student union, using technology that, to my understanding, was pretty difficult to set up and use back then while performing a small local concert, and doing all this without in-ear monitors and barely signed to a record label… that’s extremely impressive to me.
Random thoughts:
- I’ve already talked a bit about the vocals on this record and how amazing they are, but I specifically love the vocals in the chorus of “The Rival Cycle” and “Dead Men Tell No Tales.”
In general, I’ve always loved when vocalists sing against each other. I’m sure I’m just making up some terminology here, but what I mean is when vocalists simultaneously sing two or more completely different sets of lyrics and melodies (as I’ve already mentioned TREOS doing above). A good example of this is in the bridge of “Set Phasers To Stun” by Taking Back Sunday. I’m sure I’ve heard it a few other times as well, but TREOS does it the most beautifully in the chorus of “The Rival Cycle.” The chorus lasts only a third of a minute, but every second is filled with beautiful words and vocals, perfectly layered on top of each other. The first time they do it in the song is the best, in my opinion. I isolated the vocals so it’s easier to just focus on them alone. The vocals in the first chorus, along with the instrumentals, is my favorite. But in the second chorus they add their third vocalist, which makes the vocals on their own even more incredible.
In “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” it’s almost the complete opposite. They’re singing the harmonies together rather than against each other, and it’s just as amazing. In the chorus, Crescenzo yells “abandon ship!” with grit and intensity, Brown sings “Mayday! Mayday!” just before Bars sings “swim towards shore,” then the singers take turns harmonizing the other lyrics with Crescenzo. There are a few more parts of the song where they do this, and it’s brilliant every time.
- Throughout the record, there are a few lines that repeat which tie into the main theme. Some of the most notable are: “Somehow, for now,…”/”this is the last night…” (repeated in “Planning a Prison Break,” “The War of All Against All,” and “Epilogue”), “her fingers, like spiders,…” (appears in “Broadcast Quality” and “The Evidence,” except the line is “my fingers” in the latter), “we’re all puppets…”/”oh, how I’ve been teething…” (repeated in “This Armistice” and the hidden track in “Epilogue”), and “we have tested the buoyancy…” (appears in “Intermission” and “Dead Men Tell No Tales”).
- I was kind of surfing the internet looking for live videos of TREOS performing, and I stumbled across their old self-titled EP from 2004. I added the link in case anyone’s interested in hearing it. There are two songs that they put on Between the Heart and the Synapse, and while they didn’t change much, it’s cool to hear Crescenzo scream on those tracks. They also have two “Transitions,” the first being a calmer, earlier version of “Intermission,” and the second giving some context into why they chose to begin “Dead Men Tell No Tales” with a synthesizer. There’s one song called “The Art of Subversion,” which also sounds pretty cool. It’s some evidence of their style in earlier development. I commented under the video with the timestamps so jumping around the video isn’t necessary.
- Edit: u/lucybowls brought a new interpretation to the lyrics on this album to light for me. Read it here, it’s really great.
