SONG REVIEW: He Films The Clouds - "Dissociate"
“He Films The Clouds prove why they should be the next best prog metal band in the scene with their newest single”
by Jesse Smith
Let me tell you, I love a good beatdown song. I also love songs that catch you off guard, and as soon as you think this is going to be one thing they switch it up and serve you something completely different. Both of these describe the new track “Dissociate” by He Films The Clouds. Based out of California, This Progressive Metal band has a pattern of keeping things fresh and interesting when it comes to their music style and their newest single is no exception. The band has been releasing music since 2017 and has been consistent ever since. As the band continues to grow, so has their songwriting as they dial in who they are artistically. With a beautiful mix of low tuned beatdown, progressive time signature changes, and even post hardcore, He Films The Clouds is an exciting band to listen to and watch! This single features a music video that perfectly captures the bands energy and brings the song to a new level. Just when I think the Music Video and Youtube are dying, something like this reminds me how important a visual like a music video is!
The band starts the song off with one of my favorite intros of 2023 so far. Kicking things off with a pretty slow tempoed build up that is made to split the room. The rhythm section Drummer Anthony Ocegueda and Bassist Jo Gonzales Keep is slow and heavy riding a groove while vocalist Xavier Hernandez chimes in with incredible vocals. I love this intro not only because it’s ignorantly heavy but to me it’s a well crafted illusion. When you’re listening, the song has so much energy and accents played by the guitarists that you don’t really realize how heavy and slow the tempo is until you start moshing or even nodding your head to the beat. The build up has to lead somewhere, and when the music fully kicks in, it’s a heavy prog wet dream. Keeping the same vibe only with complex moving parts and dips in and out of the pre established timing. Prog Metal can sometimes be incredibly hard to listen to and it is definitely not for everyone, But He FIlms The Sky did a great job making this song palatable for the majority to listen while giving the math kids something to wrap their brains around, all while never leaving the pocket. This song is balls heavy up until the great switch of 2023 at about 1:30 in the song. All of a sudden it's a pretty atmospheric clean guitar tone that is then transitioned into a fully clean vocal break. Still keeping it real with the music end, the clean vocals definitely added depth and added emotion that didn’t feel like just anger.
This song has so many layers including a massive guitar solo. From start to end the song never lets up and even in the atmospheric pretty parts the vibe is still there. As Musicians go, this song is exciting and energetic, something I would listen to at the gym. The band is topping themselves with every release getting better and better and I really feel this song to be their best work. If you’re a fan of bands like Northlane, you will go bananas for this band, and that’s a fact.