Envy isn’t a band for everyone. Most would probably be turned off by the screaming vocals for starters or possibly get bored from the longer songs.

A Dead Sinking Story was the first Envy album I got. When I found that album, I was actually weaning off of hardcore music, but thought the idea of Japanese hardcore was interesting. Once I listened to the first track, “Chain Wondering Deeply,” I knew that this band was miles ahead of its American counterparts.

During my history with music, there has never been a band that uses tempo, tone, and resonance as expertly as Envy. The songs on this album are much heavier than later albums which use a minimalistic quality to it, but A Dead Sinking Story is a masterpiece of the hardcore and post-rock genres.

Going from screaming to immediate silence and building back to the crescendo takes a lot of knowledge, something that Envy has.

A Dead Sinking Story is a necessity for any fan of the genre, regardless of being able to understand Japanese. The emotion that comes across the songs is enough.