Elegies to Lessons Learnt is the first full-length album from iLiKETRAiNS, a death-obsessed melodramatic English pop band. Gothic rock is another genre title that might be well-applied to iLiKETRAiNS, as their rich arrangements and dark themes can be connected easily to one of the founders of the genre, The Cure. On Elegies to Lessons Learnt, they explore the application of their post-rock style to a variety of historical events, from the Great Fire of London to the Salem Witch Trials.
At first listen, Elegies is one of those albums that can leave you with the impression that “all the songs sound the same.” This really isn’t true, but the impression reveals that there are a few elements that could use more variation. David Martin’s somber vocal delivery is the first of these. While the gist of it is appropriate for the subject matter, the sort of fall-and-rise with which he inflects so many words can be a bit wearing at times. Repetition of vocal lines and riffs within a song is another device of which iLiKETRAiNS is clearly fond, and often they use this to build into a sort of trance-like breakdown or outro. Some of these are done well, but overall they contribute to a sense that each song is trying to be an epic expression of all that is painful in the history of the world. Whether these are done slightly more or less effectively, the most important change for the band to make is simply greater variation. The album could benefit greatly from interspersing songs which are shorter, or at least have more uptempo beats, to fend off the sort of plodding effort that the album turns into for the listener at times.
That said, iLiKETRAiNS has a lot to offer musically, and could really harness its arrangements and vocals into something great with the right kind of direction and writing. They would also do well to incorporate more of their strongest and most underutilized asset in their excellent lead guitar, which uses the backdrop of the band’s low, chant-like tones as the perfect foil for its piercing lines. In fact, the only proper guitar solo on the album marks the climax of its best track, “Twenty Five Sins.” Its improvisation represents the sort of spontaneity and freshness that iLiKETRAiNS will need in order to keep the listener engaged and guessing – without even giving up their obsession with death.
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