Photo credit: Mitchell Wojcik
Heaven is a Place, This is a Place is a short and sweet venture through the emotional turbulence that accompanies reaching a mental breaking point. Extremely reflective lyrics and adrenalizing melodies create a storm of an experience over the short course of four tracks. For many listeners, nothing less is expected from Frank Iero and the Future Violents. The three tracks with a haunting cover of “Losing My Religion” feel like different stages of being at the end of one’s rope. Iero pairs the sense of falling apart perfectly with the ideas of rebuilding despite depression and finding oneself in the most obscure places.
The EP’s name strikes a symbolic chord. There is a sense of attainability presented in the name. “Heaven is a place, this is a place” sounds like it is implying that the idea of a celestial paradise has more in common with physical locations than one originally thought. In this case, the “heaven” is created from the aftermath of mayhem and then coming back to oneself. The listening experience amplifies how the journey from “Violence” to “Record Ender” encompasses familiar sentiments of reflection on allowing oneself to fall apart in order to come back stronger and wiser. Adding in the emotional range being explored in four songs, the EP’s name can be a way of saying that a chaotic emotional storm brings its own euphoria because of how those moments often lead to epiphanies.
The tone kicks off with intense imagery in “Violence” and the rage that is often paired with losing one’s sanity in a toxic relationship. While it is never outright said, “gimme just a bit of your touch” implies the subject of the song is withholding affection. The only time they touch the speaker is through the mentioned violence, hence, “your violence feels like kisses to me.” Naturally, the relationship is falling apart much like the speaker’s state of mind. At the same time, there is a reflection that “in another place, in another life (time), take another drink, it could be alright.” In other words, in a perfect world—or a heaven–these two people would be healthy enough to love each other properly.
Chaos is the stuff which saviors are made of, at least that is something “Sewerwolf” leaves its listeners believing. Following the “you’re gonna be sorry when I’m gone” from “Violence,” the second track is a self-aware anthem about the speaker knowing exactly who they are. Powerful lyrics such as “when I took my first breath the earth rattled and shook” command respect but the decent into sadness still hits by the end. All the empowerment and knowing that the world around them is not the same without their existence takes a back seat to the hurt from how “there was a time I let hatred define me/I wrestled those demons and left pride in my wake.” Exhaustion seeps into the solemn ending, “my head hurts from all the truth” before flowing into the slower side of the EP.
While the Future Violent’s cover of “Losing My Religion” isn’t the center of the EP, it certainly feels like the turning point. Unlike the previous tracks, Iero stripped the cover down to the iconic strings with his vocals and a drum beat. The duet with Kayleigh Goldsworthy adds an especially haunting note and gives a potential voice to the person or people being addressed in “Violence” and “Sewerwolf.” Comparing the cover to the original, Iero’s rendition sounds much more reflective, highlighting the loneliness woven into the lyrics and allowing them to carry most of the emotion. The sudden switch in tone from angry and vengeful to slow and solitary gives a clear indicator as to where the breaking point was finally reached.
Paraphrasing the old saying, “once you hit rock bottom, the only place to go is up” perfectly suits the final track. Iero states in “Record Ender,” “I wanna tell you what I never could/It takes a lot to find yourself in a place where no one looks” acknowledging that a personal journey leads to some of the loneliest moments in life. Due to this, he adds, “if sadness finds you just call out my name/I’ll be right beside you.” In a way, this reflects how musicians are often given credit for “being there” for their fans because of how their songs relate to specific experiences and can be found in their records. Even if “Record Ender” doesn’t deliver complete closure, the determination and perseverance presented in the first two songs echoes in lyrics such as “if it makes you happy I’ll wrestle the sun, the moon, and the stars to the ground/Til you’re proud.” No defined end goal is given nor is any sense of a journey ending presented. However, “Record Ender” does encompass the idea of making one’s own heaven and finding people that will walk alongside them that are experiencing the crippling sadness. Not only will there be someone to walk with, there will be someone that doesn’t overlook obscure places anymore. That idea there is someone out there willing to help and actively trying, all the while knowing the power that is held in these emotions, is a heaven all on its own.
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