Band:	Frail Body
Album:	Artificial Bouquet
Style:	Screamo, Post-metal
Release date:	March 2024

01. Scaffolding
02. Berth
03. Critique Programme
04. Devotion
05. Monolith
06. Refrain
07. No Resolution
08. Runaway
09. Horizon Line
10. Another Year Removed
11. A Capsule In The Sediment

With Roadburn week over and me slowly going back to my usual routine, it's time to reflect and look back on what I ended up seeing and what I ended up skipping, and most importantly, to make amends.

Considering how Roadburn is a festival where you can have four artists playing at the same time albeit on different stages, it's no rare event to find more than one band you want to see but being unable to see both of their sets in full. Compromises like seeing a bit of one and a bit of the other are ones I sometimes make, but queues and the fear of missing out make me prefer not to do that unless the time overlap is small enough to deserve a jump between stages. As a result, some sets that I really wish I saw end up on my skip list in the detriment of another. Frail Body is a band that was recommended by fellow writer musclassia, and having decided to cover this album and then later realizing they were actually on the Roadburn lineup was almost a guarantee for excitement. Almost. Until I saw they were clashing with Blood Incantation's metal set. Christ.

Alright, there may already be a few of you judging me for picking Blood Incantation over a band I'm literally reviewing. I wish I had a better opportunity to see Frail Body because I already knew how well Artificial Bouquet, and screamo like this generally translates very well to a live setting and I could've used seeing more of it in a live setting, and I later found out that their performance was one of this album being played in full, even if it wasn't advertised as such. Even if I don't necessarily regret my choice, awful as it is to say it in this very review, I bet the kind of manic and chaotic energy would be a treat to experience. The kind of screamo at hand here goes in two directions I'm already very fond of. On one hand, there's a lot of atmospheric focus, a touch of blackened post-rock and shoegaze that means that you can hear a little bit of Deafheaven likeness in it. But also the viciousness gets pretty close to emoviolence sounds akin to old Jeromes Dream or Love Lost But Not Forgotten, though without reaching that same intensity consistently.

And it's not like the two approaches feel contradictory in any way on Artificial Bouquet. Sure, there may be more moments where the atmospheric focus takes precedence than the other way around, with the viscous vocals often the sole element that is purely heavy alongside the more post-inspired almost uplifting soundscapes, and that's a sound that's tried and tested and often relies on both having that soundscape be very compelling and on the flow keeping the emotional momentum. And it's here where the vocals contrasting acts with such a force because of how they feel drenched in melancholy enough to fit the instrumentation they're contrasting with and yet also so piercing. Still, it's not like the vocals are the only harbinger of extremity, as quite a few blast beats and a dash of mathcore in the riffing can exemplify.

This post-screamo direction that seems to have gaining more traction lately with acts like Infant Island and Ostraca is one I'm thoroughly enjoying. Clever sound combinations, plenty of bass in the mix, and a production that's both raw and warm definitely help, but what really makes Artificial Bouquet hit it with me is the sheer intensity. Though I rarely catch tours that don't venture East enough in Europe unless it's at Roadburn, I can only hope the opportunity will arise once more and I can make better amends than this review.