It is somehow devastatingly quiet when a song does not conceal how it is feeling. Left Out by Awaiting Abigail is precisely such a work, a burdensome, almost suffocating experience of invisibility and alienation, but with the feeling of true conviction. It does not attract you with theatrics, but with sincerity.
The twin guitars catch the eye of the listener firstly with the very first note. Their assault is brisk, nearly frenzied, and the synthesized soundscapes create the space that is somewhat immersive in a weird way, as though they were going into the air that was dense and full of humming. It is obvious that these musicians are not satisfied with the standard arrangements. They have created something gritty and deliberately heavy, rugged along the lines in a manner that seems to have a purpose. There are echoes of metal in the density, in the grit but never the chaotic of the sake of it. And beneath it all the rhythm section sets in–drums drumming like the heartbeat you cannot soothe–and keeps it all to the ground.
But what for a long time remains with you, long after the song is over, is the voice of Abigail Hill. She does not run over the track and it is just that way it works. Her manner of singing is delicate, and there is a moment when she is as powerful as possible, and the next time she is bare, and she lends the themes of neglect and unworthiness a genuine pathos. Her narration makes the song not a technical masterpiece but a highly human one, something that has been experienced and not created.
The performance is worth recognition on its own. The song, which was recorded at Empire Sound Studio in Dallas, incorporates the classic heaviness of metal with a more contemporary feel in it. It does not seem borrowed, imitative, but rather such a blend of sound makes a sound that seems deeply rooted and completely present, as though the past and the present moment are talking to each other in the same breath.
Left Out is one of the heavier tracks offered by the band not only due to the down-tuned guitars but also the way the song progresses. It runs like a true drama up and down, straining and relaxing just to bring you nearer once more. A certain sophisticated taste can be found in the manner in which the song alternates between brashness and the moments of quietness, leaving you on your toes without experiencing any sense of predictability.
It is such alternative rock that has a point to make the one made by musicians who know their art best and who are not afraid to venture deep into the darker side of human experience. What Awaiting Abigail have constructed here is something really interesting, something not only does sound powerful but it makes it feel like that.
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