Unconventional but engaging enough, Good Grief: A Violent Dream & The Scenic Route (Director’s Cut) is a story driven behemoth. Heart Shaped Lakes is the unit of musicians who have created such a massive record in terms of musical muscle and lyrical adeptness. The band, carry the torch for the macabre too, excelling in the darkness.

The album is an assessment of a broken world and smashed lust, and it centres around a story, a fable not for faint hearted. Hope has no way of breathing here, and the act scream for a way out of their demented dreams, while playing their hearts out for the crowd of outcasts, and musically, the instrumentals are technical and diverse enough to count.

By offering their hearts to the cause, the band draw from life experiences, and its clear they’re breaking under the weight of their own nightmares, though, this is true, they still play hard and fast, and the music is as cathartic as an Edgar Allan Poe poem. The artistry shown here is commendable, and the drama is infectious.

Going Down starts the record off. Screams come in thick and fast, and the volatile guitars offer a raucous input. The story comes to life, and the themes are dark. Go West, Young Man opens with a solid guitar riff and the vocals come in slower here until they become manic. The mania is true, and the fable goes pitch black. The Sickest Things begins like a pop punk song, though, still dark, there’s a glimmer of light that is weak but apparent. The chorus is packed full of hooks.

Heart Shaped Lakes dodge cliches here and their music has a certain quality, and it has engaging plot lines

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