Where does post-hardcore fit in the “metal vs. nonmetal” debate? If you’ve been following me on my journey at this site, you know that over the last couple of years, I’ve added a “medium heavy” list to my year end library, mostly because some of my favorite music in the world flirts with the grey area in the middle of that spectrum, and it’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of post-hardcore since high school. It’s a genre that, even this long after the rise and fall of scene culture from the mainstream, still draws me in and has something that captivates me when done well. HELD. is a new project made up of members who are definitely not new on the scene, and their debut Grey is a thread that connects post-hardcore’s heyday to modern sensibilities.
Grey is the debut of New Yorkers HELD., but the names behind this project should be immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the post-hardcore scene. The power trio is made up of Douglas Robinson and Sal Mignano of The Sleeping and the inimitable Josh Eppard, the once and future drummer of stalwarts Coheed and Cambria. His name is initially what attracted me to the project; while I have a passing familiarity with The Sleeping, Coheed are one of the bands that got me into post-hardcore in a major way, and they continue to put out some of the highest quality music of anyone in their generation. So what is it that makes HELD. different enough from the pedigrees that spawned it, when it’s effectively post-hardcore veterans making more post-hardcore music? The emphasis for Grey is on live performance, so the compositions are a lot more stripped down and streamlined, and they lean on authentic emotional resonance over flash and over-production to get the point across. The town of Woodstock, NY, also served as a flash of inspiration for the making of Grey: “Woodstock has long been a beacon for artists across all genres…It feels awfully serendipitous that our first time playing together was in that town, in a studio where we’d all crafted career defining albums with our previous projects, and we knew immediately that this was going to be something,” says Eppard.
Anyone familiar with The Sleeping or Coheed and Cambria shouldn’t need me to say anything about the musicianship featured on Grey, but in case you do…it’s good. Really good. Robinson and Mignano’s chemistry and interplay is as good as it has ever been, and Robinson in particular demonstrates a fire and passion on the guitar that pretty perfectly captures the old school post-hardcore fire of your Thrices and your Balance and Composures and your Thursdays while still feeling original and wholly inspired. Eppard’s drums are subtle when they have to be, but there is a ferocity and a lack of restraint here that has been absent from the last few Coheed albums that remind me what a truly fantastic drummer he is. HELD. is a band that clearly knows how to do more with less, and on Grey they capture the evocative and resonant spirit of classic post-hardcore that makes it immediately appealing in a way that defies description. These songs are soggy with hooks and melodies, and the Big Chorus™ is a perennial staple of the genre that is put to great use on Grey; Robinson’s vocals soar and bellow with the kind of deeply emotional hurt that feels universal, even if some of the lyrics sink into a little too cheesy of a territory for me (“That’s why I’m leaving with my heart attack/When I let you down against my will/Why do you act just like that?” is a relatable feeling, but the execution on the wordplay is pretty clunky.).
“The album as a whole truly feels like it’s everything I have ever wanted to write in my time growing as a musician…This record has, in many ways, healed me. Maybe I can one day thoroughly put into words what that means,” says Robinson of Grey. It really is an album that captures a very particular time, place and spirit, and for me at least, it resonates the same way timeless albums like What It Takes and In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 do. They might not be household names yet, but HELD. capitalize on their tenure in the scene and manage to do something that is more than just a patchwork of what they’ve already done previously.
— Ian
Grey is available now on MNRK Heavy. For more information on HELD., visit their Instagram page.
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