Varials: Where the Light Leaves
Where the Light Leaves is the album Thrown and Knocked Loose fans have been waiting for. American metalcore band Varials hit all the markers that hardcore and metalcore fans seek out: headbanging, pit-inducing, carnivorous chaos. However, this album goes a little deeper than that. Showcasing that heavy music reaches beyond the depths of a vocalist’s diaphragm, Where the Light Leaves captures the turbulence of internal struggle.
Textured audio introduces the first track, creating a feeling of post-apocalyptic seclusion. Three avalanches of abrasive guttural vocals, chug-laden guitars and pummelling drums come in quick succession: ‘Where the Light Leaves’, ‘No Lie Untouched’ and ‘Illusions of Loss’.
This brutalist experience underpins the album, but the adrenaline surge takes a pause when it embraces ‘The Hurt Chamber’. Echoing vocals, desperately reaching through with pain-laced growls, feel intentionally out of place. Discomfort and confusion continue into the haunting interlude ‘[wouldyoufollowme]’, and then you realise the jarring shift in flow is deliberately literal.
Internal suffering has not only been verbalised in the lyrics and personified in the sound, but also layered into the structure of the album, bringing into a shared reality what we otherwise experience in solitude.
Although ‘Silent Demise’ feels like being ripped back into chaos, the roar of “I am your fucking end” carries a sense of newfound empowerment. But this is not a victory album — at least, not entirely. Desperation returns as vocalist Skyler Conder barks “am I closer to God without you” over haunting tones and asks, “what would you do to keep me here?” Against earth-shattering blasts, this vulnerability feels like both the strength and the struggle needed to push through — something we can all relate to.
‘I’ll Find the Dark’ feels like a finale, but there is one more experience before we are released. After all, turmoil isn’t linear, and the band captures that perfectly. The penultimate track carries a sense of grandeur and leaves an undeniable taste of aggression in your mouth — in the best way, of course.
The abrupt return to a wasteland pace in ‘[intothequeit]’ solidifies the cyclical nature of struggle, pain, and overcoming it. This chaotic loop is personified through intense, cortisol-spiking tracks contrasted with vacant lulls of slow tempo and echoing entrapment.
Sometimes the only way to communicate the severity of emotion is through extreme expression. Hardcore, metalcore and heavy music create space and provide the tools for expression in ways words alone can’t quite grasp. Is it deep? Yes. Is it fun? Absolutely.