Constants

Boston-based Constants first grabbed the national spotlight with their vegetable oil-fuelled tour bus, and now bandleader Will Benoit has converted his unused barn to a solar-powered recording studio, where tracks for If Tomorrow the War were laid down. The follow-up to last year's triple-LP, The Foundation, The Machine, The Ascension, the new record was produced by none other than Godflesh/Jesu guru Justin Broadrick. The whole album is a heavy step forward for the band, still firmly rooted in the post-hardcore realm, but now with aggressively catchy singles that trade fragility for a little discord. "Your Daughter's Eyes" approaches the Life and Times with more velocity and "The Sun, the Earth" resounds with Baroness-like melody while retaining effective call-and-answer choruses with dual vocals. "In Dreams" and "A Quiet Edifice" encapsulate the more familiar tones that Constants have made their own ― a wall of echoing guitars and soaring, Junius-styled vocals ― and "Maya Ruin" adds electronic beats beneath the noise. While "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" references U2 guitar tones, Benoit inserts his best imitation of Molly McGuire's Jason Blackmore amongst the shimmering, Kylesa-like chords of "Spiders in White." With its fetching Cold War-era cover art, If Tomorrow the War captivates in more ways than one.