Heal. Unveil Solid Debut Release, ‘No Love/No Light’

Heal. are keeping it down for the underground.

New York's Heal. are the new melodic hardcore kids on the scene's international block and their recently released debut LP, 'No Love/No Light' is a tasty, solid morsel of what this genre can really offer.

Produced by ex-Misery Signals guitarist Greg Thomas (at Silver Bullet and who now plays in the almighty hardcore supergroup, End), 'No Love/No Light' is eight songs of concise, no-bullshit melodic hardcore. It's a personal record defined by dynamic sections that flow in and out of louder, noisier moments of aggressive hardcore, a tonal mixture of hope and hopelessness, contrasting guitar work of melodic lighter and darker, heavier shades. And as you'll notice by the time that opening tune 'Swans' wraps up, bands like Modern Life Is War, Counterparts and even Misery Signals themselves are key influences on this band's sound. Which ain't a problem for me at all!

The band's frontman, Ryan Hannaway, recently said of the release that:

“‘No Love / No Light,’ is an album that comes from a very dark place: depression, anxiety, complacency, loss of love, and loss of self are the core themes of the record. On the surface, it is a very negative misanthropic, but I believe it is more of a cathartic record and I hope others will see it that way too. Musically, we wanted to do something different from what other bands in our area were doing and also create music we grew up on and thought wasn’t being represented in today’s current climate. As far as Tone goes, we wanted to create a very dismal and emotionally heavy record, and luckily, Greg Thomas at Silver Bullet, saw our vision right from the beginning, and helped us shape and create what we wanted and so much more. We are very proud of this record and hope others will enjoy it.”

He also added that “When I started writing lyrics for Heal, my main goal was to be as self-reflective as possible. I always resonated with art/music that said something about the person or people making it and wasn’t just created for the sake of creating.” And man, that really shows in the final product of his band's newest release!

Speaking of which, you can stream 'No Love/No Light' below. It’s also going for $1 USD, which is $ 1.31 in Australian money, so it’s a fuckin' steal.