Lesser Men
Biding Time
(Sunday Drive Records)
I’ve said it often, but sometimes bands can be successful not necessarily because they bring forward bold new ideas or because they reinvent the wheel; instead, they can just perform a style very well. That is definitely the case for Lesser Men’s debut full-length. Biding Time plays off of known hardcore styles (melodic, post, and metallic) to great effect, with a sound that falls somewhere in between Counterparts, La Dispute, and Underoath. This formula equates to a record filled with haunting and lyrical storytelling, with songs that drip atmosphere out from your speakers like a leaky faucet. Biding Time sounds like the souls of the band were laid bare in the recording studio, and that passion helps make the record an impressive success.
It actually helps that Lesser Men don’t exactly smooth out all the wrinkles of their sound. Some songs lean heavily into more well-known melodic hardcore paths (i.e., the first three tracks), and those are led by vocalist Robert Elijah Demayo’s fantastic lyrics. His ability to dive deep into his personal demons leads to some truly excellent lines. Demayo’s voice is raw and full of catharsis, which helps embolden his delivery. When the full band lets loose, most notably in the opening “Masked”, Lesser Men are at their fullest potential; however, the group’s songwriting is smart enough not to stick to the soft or heavy for too long.
Again, Biding Time won’t likely revolutionize melodic hardcore, but the style is too full of bands that find new metaphors for lost love. The band’s debut full-length dives much deeper into the human experience, and the emotional gravity lends a wonderful depth to the record. Lesser Men are certainly not the least of the scene, and with an impressive debut under their belts, maybe they’ll have to change their name to better reflect their talent.
