Canadian metalcore heavyweights Spiritbox dropped their long awaited sophomore album, Tsunami Sea, on March 7.
The band announced the record back in November after releasing the second single. They put out four singles in preparation for the album, with the last dropping just three days before the record.
Spiritbox teased the album and songs all the way back in August, when they started using black and white theme for all photos and videos. On September 6, the first single, “Soft Spine,” released, and they changed all social media images to black and white as well as the cover for their first album, Eternal Blue, on all streaming platforms (luckily those of us who have physical copies of that record still have the blue version).
Formed in 2017 by front-woman Courtney LaPlante and then fiance and guitarist Mike Stringer in Victoria, BC. Eight years later, and LaPlante and Stringer are still the core of the band, with Zev Rose on drums and Josh Gilbert (formerly of As I Lay Dying) on bass rounding out the rest of the lineup. To date, they have released three EPs and two full length albums, along with a smattering of singles.
Before I get into the review, I want to touch on Spiritbox’s marketing for the album, because it was phenomenal. Aside from the black and white vibe, on their TikTok, they put out multiple brainrot style videos, with a computer voice reading over a Minecraft parkour video, a popular genre of video on the platform. As a Gen Z’er, I greatly appreciate a completely different marketing tactic to reach a broader audience.
Then just a few days ago, they posted a video of Courtney in Times Square with an ad for the album in the background. She uttered three simple words, “It’s Courtney, bitch.” This was poking fun at when an interviewer mistook her for Poppy at the Grammys.
Fata Morgana
To open up the record is Fata Morgana. The song sets the tone for Tsunami Sea almost immediately, with a heavily djent inspired riff that continues for nearly a minute before going into the first verse.
The chorus alludes to the song title, which is an Italian term for a form of mirage visible in a narrow band right above the horizon.
“Fate is a mirage
Hold me up till the morning
Await in phenomenon
Let it go without warning”
After the second chorus, the song calls back to the original riff for a breakdown that concludes the track.
“I would describe Fata Morgana as the mission statement of the album. It just comes out swinging, and it is very, very heavy,” Stringer said about the track in an interview with Metal Hammer
Black Rainbow
Seamlessly transitioning into an even heavier song is Black Rainbow. Stringer even said that he thinks it’s the heaviest on the whole record.
Revolving around a Meshugga style riff, the song is pure energy start to finish and notably showcases LaPlante’s vocal versatility in screaming.
The repetition of the line “Dissolve, displace, rejoice, repeat,” which has a robotic filter over Courtney’s vocals, reminds me of V.A.N. by Bad Omens and Poppy or Colossus by Avatar, conjuring images of the darkness of the human condition and technology turning against us. It’s definitely a common theme with metalcore bands but rightfully so, as I think it translates well into the genre and is a great concept to explore in these times where AI is all around us.
Perfect Soul
The second single, and where Spiritbox initially announced the album, Perfect Soul was a perfect transition from the Eternal Blue era into the Tsunami Sea era of the band. It calls back to the earlier days of the band, with a much more traditional (in a very loose sense) metalcore sound.
The first song on the album where Courtney really shows off her clean vocals, the track is much more melodic and groovy compared to the first two, it is similar in feel to “The Void” off of The Fear of Fear EP or “Circle With Me” from Eternal Blue.
Keep Sweet
Going right back into heavy prog riffs is Keep Sweet. This song blends elements of the past three tracks into one, with LaPlante’s clean and harmonized vocals with instrumentals just as heavy as Black Rainbow.
This song feels a bit more chaotic, with the first chorus being a blast beat with clean vocals going into a screaming interlude. From there, things become a bit more structured, with the second being a more standard chorus, but extending out and still occasionally dropping the double kick drums. Toward the end we hear something not often done by Spiritbox, with clean harmonies over screaming.
Soft Spine
The first single released for the album, Soft Spine is another perfect transition song between eras, although this one covers the heavier side.
When it was released last year, I personally considered it one of the band’s heaviest songs. I think I will have to disagree with Mike Stringer and put Soft Spine as the heaviest (or at least tied for heaviest, we’ll get there), although Black Rainbow is a close second.
Tsunami Sea
The titular track, Tsunami Sea is similar to Perfect Soul, in that it calls back to the Eternal Blue era and primarily focuses on LaPlante’s clean vocals and not near as many heavy, driving riffs. In fact, this is the first song on the album to prominently a clean tone from Stringer.
If I had to liken it back to one of the band’s earlier songs, I would have to say “Secret Garden.” Lyrically, this song follows a more overtly poetic approach compared to the first few songs. This is something LaPlante is particularly good at when it comes to songwriting. Rather than be extremely direct with her lyrics, she takes a more prose inspired approach, incorporating many metaphors and indirect references.
“Hours, I could lay hеre for hours
The bed of a forеst I can petrify
Through broken waves that leave us blind
If I stay here, you’ll wash away like a landslide
You bleed into every color that my mind can conceive
You only love the ideation of me.”
A Haven with Two Faces
Even though it is a fantastic song, I think A Haven with Two Faces is probably one of the weaker tracks on Tsunami Sea. Again, it is an amazing song, which just speaks to the caliber of this album and of Spiritbox.
However, I think that this song is a little too similar to Tsunami Sea and Keep Sweet, as it focuses heavily on clean vocals with a very straightforward structure of chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus. There’s just not much that makes it stand out among the rest of the record.
That is, except for the breakdown. I think the breakdown at around three and a half minutes in is arguably the strongest and heaviest on the album. This section feels like something off of their self titled EP, which I have particular affinity for.
And even though I think this isn’t the strongest of the 11 songs, it does mark a tonal shift that will be more present through to the end.
No Loss, No Love
Remember when I said that Soft Spine was tied for my personal heaviest? Well this is its competitor.
No Loss, No Love was the third of the four singles. Clocking in at just under three minutes, this is another one like Black Rainbow or Soft Spine, No Loss, No Love is pure heaviness.
It calls back to “Yellowjacket” featuring Sam Carter of Architects, touching on the strange and dark inner workings of the human mind. That was always a favorite off of Eternal Blue for me, so it makes sense that its spiritual successor would be top-tier.
“In a bleached cavern of bones, I reach my destination
An island of solace beneath a corpse’s feet
I can feel something sinister under the surface
I know an island that breathes is a body that eats
And now it’s showing its teeth.”
“It’s very close to Holy Roller in a sense, as far as how quick the song is and how relentless it is,” Stringer said.
Crystal Roses
Finally for the singles and the home stretch, released right before the album is Crystal Roses. This track introduces a sound Spiritbox has rarely experimented with: electronic.
The best way that I can describe Crystal Roses is almost as atmospheric rave music. It is a complete curveball from not only the rest of Tsunami Sea but also the rest of their discography. Is this Spiritbox’s entrance into the rave/party realm? Maybe. Should they do a collab with Electric Callboy now? Absolutely.
When asked about this song, Courtney had this to say: “I think it’s a new side of our band.”
Ride the Wave
Ride the Wave follows off of Crystal Roses, keeping with some electronic elements while moving back towards their prog metalcore roots. The song is firmly punctuated in the first half by a heavily electronic focused beat overlaid by LaPlante’s clean vocals and Stringer clean guitars.
“This is the first song that I tracked vocals to, and you couldn’t feel my sadness and melancholy in the takes that I did. It has a bit of a fun march to it, you can dance a little to it, but it’s sad,” LaPlante said. I couldn’t agree more, as much of the first half of the song is almost gothic in that it is eerie and slightly sad but also groovy and danceable.
But at that halfway mark is a break in tempo and intensity, building up to a breakdown. From there it goes back into a chorus, another poetic section from LaPlante.
“Ride the wave like a message in a bottle
For the only words I ever wanna hear
I will wait with the syllables I swallow
Bitter taste until they disappear
I try to tell myself those words are for someone else
A delusion, I feel so clear
My heart corrodes itself
A vessel I can’t compel
To break open when you pull me near”
Deep End
We end off Tsunami Sea in the Deep End. No pun intended. I mean it just makes sense to have a few water titled songs in an album called Tsunami Sea, with tons of references to oceans, water, and ships.
As a good story should, Deep End finishes off the album on a high, climatic note. It’s almost cinematic in a way, feeling as if we are coming to a conclusion of the story being told throughout the album. For the first and only time we actually get an acoustic section from Stringer at the very end. On a side note, I’d love to see Spiritbox put out some acoustic versions of their songs.
Lyrically, a lot of the album is not only poetic but also reflects many of Courtney’s mental struggles, but particularly comes through on Deep End.
“Down in the deep end
I couldn’t see straight
I shouldn’t be here
Watching thе world fade
Wind on the current
Carriеd the wrong way
Down in the deep end
Lost in my own waves”
The song was written before the passing of their former bassist, Bill Crook, sadly passed away last summer. LaPlante said that when he passed, the song took on a different meaning to her. “We wrote Deep End before Bill passed, but that song now, to me, is my beacon to him,” she said.
Spiritbox will be embarking on an almost sold out North American tour in April and go through early May, before heading over to Europe in June and July. They’ll be coming back to the States in September for Louder Than Life festival in Kentucky.
The band can be found on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Facebook. They can be streamed on all major platforms.
