Boneflower's 'Armour' is stunning, genre-defying post-hardcore (listen)

Madrid’s Boneflower formed back in 2015 and released their debut EP I’ll be the Bones, You’ll be the Soul that same year. They showed promise from the start, but they continue to expand their sound and get better with each subsequent release (including their 2017 debut LP Empty Rooms, Full Bodies and their three 2018 singles), and the new A(r)mour is the best thing they’ve released yet.

There’s so much to this album — ear-piercing screamo, anthemic post-hardcore, delicate post-rock, black metally fury, and more — and Boneflower bring it all together in a way that feels simultaneously familiar and inventive. If you’ve ever wished Pianos Become the Teeth would make an album that had the post-rock/screamo of their early days and the soaring clean-sung hooks of their more recent material all at once, A(r)mour just might be the thing you’re looking for.

A(r)mour is out now on vinyl on Dog Knights, cassette on Zegema Beach, and CD on The Braves, and you can stream it and watch the video for “Starless” below. Boneflower were supposed to tour Europe with State Faults this year, but, you know.