Sounds like…

As close to Parappa the Rapper 3 – the soundtrack (to a game we all frankly deserved years ago) that we’ll get for some time. If Parappa had Rasputina instead of Sunny Funny.

The review

When you hear the premise of Triheart, you may – just like I did – scratch your head and wonder how on Earth it could work? Triheart are a trio that all bring their own genres to the table. The songs are fundamentally chiptune based but then we have nerdy chatty raps over the top and a virtuoso violin player who’d be more at home in a dramatic rock band. It shouldn’t work. On paper, it should be an utter mess. Triheart manages to make an unusual sense of the chaos and has created something genuinely unique. There is nothing else quite like.

Different tracks aim for different moods but where it works best is when Triheart is going for the angry anti-anthem or a crazed banshee moment. ‘Zeus’, the closer is a brooding tripping gothic ladled piece where the violin soars and shrills brilliantly. Combined with the distorted glassy chipsets and restrained poetry, it feels claustrophobic and beats like a heart. ‘Red Hot’ ratchets up the tension and drama to the point where the rap is belly laughing into the flames of hell. Each song feels like an artsy performance piece and ‘Red Hot’ is the most flamboyant of these. It’s also probably the most fun because I can hear the anime overtones from the other side of the ocean! It also contains the phrase ‘holla holla like you stepped in lava. Argh!’ Nuff said.

As Triheart are mashing together three completely separate styles and genres, your preferences will naturally vary towards some songs over others. I prefer the fun bleeps and heavy strings of anthemic opener ‘Running Out of Time’ over the more sentimental ballad style of ‘Slushy Slopes’. For me, its because the rapping is poised and punchy. Triheart has that talky cute approach that reminds me heavily of the Parappa the Rapper game and the opening track even chops up the word time as if I’m button mashing X. If you know the game, you know what I mean. The latter track has a lot of shouty ends to sentences that doesn’t sit in the mix well and grind a little on the ears as it hits the same note each phrase. The standout track where all three elements really smash together best is ‘Sorry’ though. Here we have elegance, angst, catchy choruses, and a merger that just simply works. I have no idea how.

It is extremely difficult to score something like Triheart because this is a truly experimental explosion of various artforms blended to a puree. If you like the sound of it all, then add or take away 1.5 from the score depending on how you feel. I strongly recommend having a listen to the EP over on Bandcamp. I absolutely love that in 2020 I’m still finding unique expressions of music, and, for that alone, I am a happy listener. With some gentle tightening up of some dissonant moments, Triheart should end up cultivating a cult following for their future releases.

Recommended track: Sorry

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