Today I’m excited to share with everyone the news that Hawaii post-hardcore band, Mara Bloom, have returned with their debut LP called They Who Invite. Along with a deeply evolved conceptual storytelling style, the new record also transcends the sonic bounds of the genre. Increasingly progressive elements are introduced with unusual song structures and winding referential lyrics. Influences of Japanese city pop and progressive metal riffs are abundant and tangible, creating an attention grabbing brand of modern hardcore. And while frenetic, the young quintet have crafted an astute songwriting, that glazes the top of a gripping rookie collection. The band breaks down the full album in an exclusive track-by-track below.
”Midnight Bouquet”: Great opener. One of the first songs that Tyler brought to the table for the band. Some really beautiful and catchy chord progressions that highlight the Japanese city pop influence. Details a ritual wedding gone awry!
”Dirty Deeds” ft. Dylan McBride: A more technically simple song on the album, and one of our favorites to play live. The lyrics and vocals are sassy as hell, and it has hilariously more swear words than any other song we’ve written, if that does anything for you. Plus, we got to work with the amazing Dylan McBride, of Lilac Kings, who was absolutely amazing. His part on this song is incredible.
”What Happened In May”: This was the very first song we started working on for the new album. It’s got a pretty intense, emotional ending section and features our favorite bass line in any of our songs. Super fun riff at the beginning of the song and an epic climax. A favorite for sure.
”Yomi”: We rewrote the chorus of this song so many times! It had to be appropriately epic and energetic. It’s a little heavier than some of the other tracks and has a lot of elements you’d find in djent. An absolutely pumping chorus and a fun but still aggressive key changing chord progression at the end.
”Little Shadow”: A piano-driven interlude. We wanted this to almost sound like something from the Nier: Automata soundtrack. We’re pretty huge nerds and love that game, and the soundtrack is legendary.
”Full Circle”: Full of djent and progressive metal elements, and the breakdown goes hard. It’s rhythmically impressive and played a big part in defining the overall sound for this album. A lot of these vibes will carry on to our future releases.
”Camellia”: This one is a bit different from the rest of the songs on the album. We kind of had a hard time writing to it. Breakdown is a bit of a mind bender but it goes hard, and really showcases elements of metalcore and progressive metal.
”Hateful Little Things” ft. Properties of Nature: This song had several iterations earlier on in its life. It was also our first time working with another band and it turned out absolutely amazing. Properties of Nature really blew us away on this one; they took the base we established and really technically elevated it.
”Faith For A Lie”: One of the most progressive and interesting songs on the album. It’s one of the more serious and thematically complex songs. There’s a lot going on in the lyrics and it really closes out the album to a somber conclusion. Very experimental and portrays a dark emotional landscape.