Long Island NY quintet Detachment have unveiled their long-anticipated debut album “Lack“, a testament to their journey, their evolution, and their unwavering commitment to their craft.
The album’s opening salvo, “Slug“, wastes no time as it plunges the listener into a tumultuous sea of aggressive riffs and pounding drums, all centered around themes of the deceit and manipulation by society’s power brokers. It’s a track that screams of the band’s hardcore roots, with not a hint of clean vocals to be found.
But Detachment is no one-trick pony. As we meander through the album, the melodic infusion becomes evident. “BackBreaker” introduces us to Rob’s melodic vocals, weaving a poignant tale of alcoholism, inner conflict, and the delusions it births. The narrative takes another turn with “Nu Light“, a melody-rich ode to aging, dreams, and staying true to oneself.
“Basement Days” is a sonorous tribute to a psychedelic journey, bearing the distinction of being the album’s only fully melodic track. From here, the album takes listeners on an emotional whirlwind, from the heavy introspections of “The Cluster” and “Festival of Rats” to the harmonic blend of aggression and introspection in “Choke(d)”.
“This record encapsulates the good, the bad, and the ugly of life as a musician in a band. From the fast-paced punk aesthetic of Basement Days to the punishing beatdowns of The Cluster, Lack is about keeping your head up through it all and sticking to your guns, no matter what life throws at you.” – Detachment
Detachment’s lyrical prowess is evident throughout “Lack“. Whether it’s the societal commentary of “Slug” and “Festival of Rats” or the deeply personal tales in “BackBreaker” and “Jameson Fog”, the album resonates with authenticity. There’s a sense of vulnerability, especially in tracks like “Jameson Fog“, which touches on mental health struggles and Rob’s experiences with panic attacks on tour.
In “Medusa Oblongata”, the album’s finale, the band explores the theme of being used for someone else’s ends, underlined by an industrial backdrop complete with drum loops and psychedelic samples.
Since their formation in 2018, Detachment has been on a relentless quest to etch their name in the annals of their local hardcore history.
Behind the music are vocalist Robert Folan, guitarists Roberto Rivera and Nick Montalvo, bassist Morgan Blanco, and drummer Ben Wyrick. Together, they’ve crafted a harmonious blend of the heavy and the melodic, the aggressive and the introspective.
“Lack” track by track commentary:
Slug
Slug starts the album straight off with a bludgeoning that does not give the listener room to breathe. The song is about the corruption, lies, and manipulation from the wealthy and powerful. This is not the only song on the album about this. This song does not have any clean vocals and is to show off our true heavy roots.
BackBreaker
Backbreaker is another heavy song, but this is the track that introduces the listener to Rob’s melodic vocals. This song is about alcoholism and conflicts and delusions that it causes.
Nu Light
The third track entitled Nu Light takes a big turn into a significantly more melodic territory. This song is mostly clean vocals with only a little bit of screaming. This track is about the inevitability of getting older while still staying true to yourself and your goals/dreams.
Basement Days
We have reached a complete 180 from the first track to the most melodic song on the album. This is the only track that contains no screaming vocals. This song is about a psychedelic trip we all went on, hence how “colorful” the song sounds.
Interlude II
A reoccuring theme with our releases is we like to add an interlude to demonstrate a combination of both our heavy and melodic roots and blend them together. The lyrics of this song is about losing trust in someone you once loved.
Festival of Rats
This is the track that lets the listener know that we are heading head first back into the heavy territory and we’re not stopping this time. This song is about the inevitable collapse of society. It contains a sound bite from the 1983 Sci-Fi horror film Videodrome, a film very much about how technology will inevitably rule us into submission.
The Cluster
The Cluster is the heaviest song on the album. This song is very much influenced by the vicious grooves of bands like Cane Hill and Stray from the Path. The song is about how disasters feel more frequent and more severe, and the responses to these disasters feel less and less adequate. It’s a pessimistic song suggesting “no one is coming to save us” but what that means is it’s up to us to save ourselves.
Choke(d)
This song is the perfect showcase of our heavy and melodic combination and how those two styles juxtapose each other. This song describes feelings of guilt and regret. Intrusive thoughts telling me I am a burden on people I know. But the end of the song is an attack on the beginning, with lyrics such as “Sever the ties with my past lives” and “healing begins with pain.” In the end it’s a song about growth which makes sense since this is the second version of the song and we have grown since the first release.
Jameson Fog
The second to last song on the album brings the listener back to the styles of Nu Light and Basement Days. This song is about mental health struggles, and references two panic attacks Rob had on tour. One in Ohio and the other in Pittsburg.
Medusa Oblongata
The final track on LACK is a rather industrial track with drum loops and psychedelic samples bringing the listener full circle from the start of the album. This song is about being
used as a means to an end for a goal that isn’t yours.
