Boundaries: Yearning: The Unbeautiful After
Leave it to Boundaries to find the pulse of modern metalcore and hardcore, then eviscerate it back to the genre’s original intent with unrelenting aggression and filth on their fourth studio album, Yearning: The Unbeautiful After, set for release on 17 July via Sumerian Records.
The band has never been afraid to push the envelope sonically, but this album also subverts the very idea of yearning. Rather than romanticising longing, it offers a cynical reflection on wanting more after the world has repeatedly wasted your time. Asking, "Are you done crawling for crumbs?" it forces listeners to sit with the uncomfortable. There is no denying that Matthew McDougal’s ferocious vocal performance carries much of the album’s emotional weight, perfectly complementing its lyrical anguish. The record plays like one massive breakdown-driven descent into purgatory, leaving you battered and filthy by the end. What truly ties everything together, however, is the sound design. From analog horror-inspired textures to bursts of unsettling white noise, the production maintains a constant sense of agonizing dread.
‘Malconscience’ isn't just an opening track – it's a threat. Tim Sullivan’s relentless double-kick patterns and snare assault build into a crushing breakdown that sets the tone for all 14 tracks. The moment McDougal unleashes the opening lines, the album plants itself firmly in abrasive hostility. Guitarists Cory Emond and Cody Delvecchio tear through manic riffs that pull listeners into a drywall-punching, mad cow disease-like dysphoria, while bassist Nathan Calcagno anchors everything with devastating chord drops that leave you in a perpetual state of shell shock.
Recent singles ‘Scars Cast Amber Black’ and ‘May This Pain Never Leave’ continue the album’s disembowelment of the listener through brutal fake-outs, rapid fills and crushing breakdowns. The latter doubles down on its emotional intensity through clashing sonic dissonance while leaning further into traditional metalcore territory, with Calcagno taking on a larger vocal role. Meanwhile, 'Scars Cast Amber Black' toys with its pacing before delivering one of the album’s most satisfying "FUCK YOU" moments: "Fuck you, it's all around us now."
‘Torn Open Wide’ drags listeners even deeper into an emotional abyss, with Make Them Suffer amplifying the devastation through crushing deathcore-inspired vocals. Rapid-fire chugs, gun-chamber-like drops, and piercing squeals are interrupted only by an unnerving final passage that offers a brief moment of respite before the next assault. 'Bitter Ash, Bitter Love' and 'Unequal Whole' function almost as one continuous burst of ethereal aggression, their shorter runtimes only amplifying the momentum. Another standout, 'Death Will Follow Me' marks the album’s turning point, where the brutality suddenly escalates and doubles down on its descent into madness. Meanwhile, the chant-like hooks and frantic fills of ‘The Leper's Bell’ feel destined to become a circle pit enthusiast’s dream.
‘Crowned and Crucified’ finds Boundaries at their most authentic and uncompromising. It stands among the strongest songs in the band’s catalog, with Landon Tewers adding another layer of chaos. From its foreboding introduction, every member fires on all cylinders, culminating in a devastating third breakdown that lingers long after it ends thanks to its eerie closing sound design. The double-pedal barrage alone is enough to make you want to crowd kill or shove someone across the pit, while the raw lyrical anguish and tortured screams never relinquish their grip.
‘Only Endless’ and the title track, ‘Yearning: The Unbeautiful After’, close the record by asking what's left once the emotional devastation has settled. It's an unconventional finale that balances the band's metalcore foundation with hardcore grit. Rather than ending in triumph, the album fades into lingering emotional exhaustion, allowing its aggression to dissipate into an overwhelming sense of dread.
Yearning: The Unbeautiful After is uncompromisingly raw, driven by razor-sharp aggression, suffocating atmosphere and lyrical anguish that fulfills every one of its threats. Boundaries have tapped into foreboding and weaponised grief and yearning with scalpel-like precision. It’s an all-out assault on the senses, spiraling through emotional devastation while remaining relentlessly guttural, oppressive and crushing.
Be sure to catch the band at Warped Tour and Louder Than Life before they join hardcore royalty Knocked Loose on tour, where they're certain to bring the same devastation and brutality to audiences across the country.