A QUIET DEATH - MEMENTO MORI - ALBUM REVIEW

With metalcore, punk and hardcore coming together in ‘Memento Mori’, there’s certainly something here for every alternative fan out there. Brisbane based, A Quiet Death’s debut album released on March 31st, and the album tends to flow between its influences. In places it has a grunge sound that introduces some interesting dynamics to the music, beyond the regular rise and fall. I found that The transition from the wall of sound that is ‘Senseless’, to the lower register ‘Supernova’ was so natural i didn't even notice until my second listen through.

mathew french is the main force behind a quiet death, writing, performing and recording everything we hear on 'memento mori'. for our full lineup, we have mat corsi for drums, kevin allman on lead guitar, chandler henry on bass, with french for vocals and rhythm guitar.

Getting into the meat of the review, ‘Senseless’ sets the ambiance, and conveys the coarseness of the rest of the album, where it can be loud and fast. It is directly contrasted to the next song, ‘Broken Flower’, which takes a step back and strips parts of the songs of guitars and creates a more tender tone. 

The album’s first single, ‘Trigger’, picks the pace up again with the drums really setting the pace. Brilliant choice for their hero single. It does a great job at showcasing the best of their talent. the strings are a driving force, at times they marry up their chunky riffs with the drums for additional impact. Their distortion is enough to not sound overproduced and bring the heavy emotion to table without muddying the mix. It's fun and it's jumpy.

‘You Can’t Take Death From Me’ was the last single that was released from the album, speaking about how life may be out of control, but that you can choose what happens afterwards. The song slows a bit through the verses, definitely a rawer part of the album, before slamming back in with big galloping guitar tones and punk rock yells for the chorus. The lead performance through this one is epic, hitting us with a fast and rising guitar tone before biting back into the heavier chorus. 

I was sucked into ‘Dead Canaries Don’t Sing’ by it’s grungey tone, and how quickly we get into the guts of the song. It is so bleak. The song opens with stripped back guitars, before leading into the chorus where the distortion is turned back on. The lyrics “Not everyone becomes a diamond under pressure” felt like an eye opening comment, and that maybe pressure to be better can lead to failure instead. That your mind can sometimes hold you back, that somethings can take more time. it builds into a somber bridge and outro, instilling a melancholic feeling with “all my friends are gone”. This was the song on the album I found myself repeatedly returning to.

‘Supernova’ feeds off the back of the last track, with stripped back guitars and a shining tone in the verse, but steps back up for the chorus again. ‘Reflections’ boosts our pace back up again, with snappy guitar tones and returns us to the heavier elements of the album, with french’s screams closing out the song in coarse relatability.

‘Sowing Eden’ continues the more punky feel to the album, a bit more simple in its make up compared to the front half of the album, really featuring their overdriven guitar tone. Despite not being the album’s closing track, the outro builds off a rising guitar solo into a climactic finish. 

The album ends with another melancholic song, ‘The Light In Your Eyes’ deviating again from the heavier parts of the album, starting with clean guitars and reserved vocals. It is by far the most atmospheric song on the album, the verse in particular soaking in some tasty hall reverb. 

During my first or second entire listen through, I thought this was perhaps an interesting choice to close out with ‘The Light In Your Eyes’, especially following ‘Sowing Eden’, but I’ve revised this opinion now I’ve heard it a few times. The decision not to finish on something less grand gives the album some intrigue, that there’s unfinished business to attend to. Much like stories, it’s a bit of a cliff hanger. A loose thread you want to pull to see what they’re capable of doing next.

one of the things I noticed about this album is where the vocals sit in the mix. Some bands will have the vocals top, front and centre, while others nestle it into the mix and saturate it with sound. Matthew French’s vocals tend to swing between sitting on top of the mix, and nestling further down, depending on the track. While I personally feel that the vocals sit a little far forwards in the mix sometimes, it is not to the detriment of the music. The fluctuation in depth changes where the ears focus and emphasises different parts of the music. To add, the vocals are so visceral and raw, they really drive the punk and hardcore elements of their sound, they’d be hard to knock back without beginning to deprive the emotion from them. While I feel that the beginning of the album was the stronger half, stacked up with all their singles, they have done an impressive job to display how unique and dynamic they are as a band. 

‘Memento Mori’ sticks true to its name, melancholic in nature and when the mood and energy is brought up, it is soon brought back down again. A Quiet Death’s debut exhibit’s their multifaceted talent and diversity within their sound. I’m excited to see how they continue to develop and refine their sound in their next album!

For those who might prefer instrumentals - you’re in luck. The album was preceded by its instrumental version in 2024 - also well worth the listen!

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