Vulture Feather
's
Colin McCann
and
Brian Gossman
returned to music after a 15-year break -- a sure sign they absolutely had to share what they created with a wider audience. This drive could be heard within the hopeful momentum of their 2023 debut album,
Liminal Fields
, but it's even more pronounced on
It Will Be Like Now
, where their determination gives their music a transfixing inevitability. The band says their songs only include "the good parts," and it's true: If they shifted from the consoling guitar part that plays over and over on "Blood Knot" as
McCann
encourages someone close to him to "let your burden fall," listeners would want them to come back to it immediately. The artistic courage it takes to commit to a handful of ideas continues the legacy of
Gossman
's previous groups, the '90s post-hardcore band
Don Martin Three
and the 2000s post-punk experimentalists
Wilderness
, as well as the transcendence of
Lungfish
, to whom
is often compared. However, this band is as much about rebirth as tradition, something else
makes clear. Joined by drummer
Eric Fiscus
,
create a musical bedrock on songs such as "Calling from Afar" that feels more unshakeable than any of their previous work. Likewise, the braying highs and bellowing lows of
's vocals -- both on furious, glorious display on "Into Space" -- are more moving than ever. Despite the rousing heft of their music,
don't write anthems, and
is at its best when they let deep and complicated emotions coexist. "I will fall/Like your tears/To the ground,"
intones on "Like Now," one of many moments where the intensity of their empathy is formidable. Another standout, "Only/Holy Name," is so bleak it circles around to hope again. It's a feeling that culminates on "Let It Through" when
sings about "shining through the pain" -- the perfect description of
's sound and the thoughtful catharsis they offer listeners on
. ~ Heather Phares