BIG|BRAVE in grief or in hope
Consensus is still forming across 4 professional reviews. BIG|BRAVE's in grief or in hope confronts sorrow and resilience with a tidal, tactile sound that makes anguish feel communal from the first seconds. Critics agree the record's power comes from its thick, deliberate use of distortion and drone, where hope and grief coexist in sustained waves rather than neat resolutions
The title track is best because it encapsulates the album’s denser guitar textures and heightened emotional intensity.
Shared criticism is still limited across the current review sample.
Best for listeners looking for grief and body as container, starting with What May Be the Kindest Way to Leave and Verdure.
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Full consensus notes
BIG|BRAVE's in grief or in hope confronts sorrow and resilience with a tidal, tactile sound that makes anguish feel communal from the first seconds. Critics agree the record's power comes from its thick, deliberate use of distortion and drone, where hope and grief coexist in sustained waves rather than neat resolutions.
Across four professional reviews the album earned an 82.5/100 consensus score, with critics consistently pointing to centerpiece tracks as proof of the band's ambition. “What May Be the Kindest Way to Leave” and “Verdure” recur as the best songs on in grief or in hope, praised for turning feedback and a gargantuan looped bass into emotional weight; reviewers also singled out “In Grief or in Hope” and “An Uttering of Antipathy” for their pitch-corrected glow and dense guitar textures. Professional reviews highlight themes of trauma, collective reckoning, and the body as container, noting how doom-laden noise and slowcore-drone influences balance overwhelm with surprising space.
While praise centers on the trio's ability to enlarge their sound without losing clarity, some critics temper enthusiasm by emphasizing the album's relentless intensity, which can feel confronting rather than consoling. Still, the critical consensus suggests in grief or in hope is a compelling, often essential listen for those drawn to emotionally intense, texture-forward music. Read on for detailed reviews that map the record's standout moments and sonic strategies.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
What May Be the Kindest Way to Leave
2 mentions
"On opener "what may be the kindest way to leave," waves of doom-laden noise set in"— AllMusic
Verdure
2 mentions
"a gargantuan loop of distorted bass that somehow becomes comforting as it repeats"— AllMusic
In Grief or in Hope
3 mentions
"The closing title track is a phaser-heavy drone that comes closer to doom metal, though it also seems like the brightest and most hopeful song on the album."— AllMusic
The closing title track is a phaser-heavy drone that comes closer to doom metal, though it also seems like the brightest and most hopeful song on the album.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
What May Be the Kindest Way to Leave
A Shape of Shame
The Ineptitude for Mutual Discernment
Holding Tongue
Verdure
Skin Ripper
An Uttering of Antipathy
In Grief or in Hope
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
BIG|BRAVE's in grief or in hope finds its best tracks in the way they make bodily pain communal, especially on “What May Be the Kindest Way to Leave” and “Verdure”. Elsewhere, “An Uttering of Antipathy” glows with pitch-corrected light across feedback, a quieter but essential highlight that completes the album's arc.
Key Points
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The album's core strength is transforming private trauma into shared, visceral material through overdriven drones and collective performance.
Themes
Critic's Take
BIG|BRAVE's in grief or in hope feels like a deliberate enlargement of sound, where the best tracks - “What May Be the Kindest Way to Leave” and “Verdure” - turn distortion into emotional weight. Paul Simpson's voice in the review is admiring and precise, noting how the opener's waves of doom-laden noise and the gargantuan loop of distorted bass on “Verdure” create moments that are both overwhelming and oddly comforting. The takeaways for listeners searching for the best songs on in grief or in hope are these centerpieces, which show the band blowing their sound up nearly to combustion while retaining space and balance. This is praise framed through sonic detail, pointing readers toward the album's most affecting passages without downplaying the record's intensity.
Key Points
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The opener “What May Be the Kindest Way to Leave” is the album's most impactful moment due to its waves of doom-laden noise and a piercing bass payoff.
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The record's core strength is its ability to expand into overwhelming, texturally detailed distortion while preserving space and balance.
Themes
Critic's Take
BIG|BRAVE push the emotional stakes on in grief or in hope with guitars that make their sound thicker and more confrontational. The album thrives on dense guitar textures, from distorted slowcore to drone and metal touches, which is why songs like “In Grief or in Hope” feel emblematic of the record. The trio’s emotional intensity carries the record through, marking these tracks as the best on in grief or in hope for listeners seeking weight and atmosphere. Wattie, Ball and Andrews have clearly defined the path they want to take, and that clarity makes the standout moments resonate more powerfully.
Key Points
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The title track is best because it encapsulates the album’s denser guitar textures and heightened emotional intensity.
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The album’s core strengths are its thick, reverb-drenched guitars and a clearly defined, emotionally driven direction.
Themes
