The Number Twelve Looks Like You – Howls From the Holographic Heart Review

It’s the year 2005, and I’m loading up iTunes to sync new music to my iPod. In amongst the library of Nu Metal, Post-Hardcore, and Metal is an album from a band that seamlessly melds together elements of mathcore, prog, jazz, and post-hardcore. That band is The Number Twelve Looks Like You, with the album Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear. It’s a chaotic blend of genres that itches something in my brain, and over 20 years later, the band is here with their sixth studio album, Howls From the Holographic Heart, and I can say for sure, this band doesn’t miss a beat.

While sitting firmly within the mathcore space, The Number Twelve Looks Like You isn’t afraid to step over the line into other genres; in fact, they dive over that line and do a merry little jig whilst doing so. Howls From the Holographic Heart is no different, though I will say that it is far tamer than the band’s earlier work. That’s not to say that they’ve strayed completely from the mathcore world; the album’s debut single, Joy Is A Weapon, proved that. It is, however, less of a full-frontal pummeling of blast beats and screams.

Kicking things off with Trust Chaos, we’re witness to a sub-two-minute barrage of just that: chaos before things calm down with their second single, Glow in the Dark Skin, which has more of a shoegazy post-hardcore feel to it. This juxtaposition between tracks could really throw some listeners off, especially if they’re unfamiliar with the band. Still, even if you’re new to The Number Twelve, you’ll soon learn this switch-up isn’t new territory for them; it’s part of their charm.

Throughout this album, there’s an almost Between the Buried and Me feel, something I also found in their last record, Wild Gods. The band plays with heavy prog-like riffs, vocals that toy with raw screams and haunting cleans, moments with orchestral elements, and the odd jazzy interlude. As a big fan of BTBAM, I really dig this direction from the band. Even being mostly familiar with their second record, they’ve always played around with these ideas, but Howls From the Holographic Heart feels more realised and mature in that sense.

According to vocalist Jesse Korman, the band “wanted to do what The Number Twelve Looks Like You does and write something that is just completely unexpected,” and that’s exactly what Howls From the Holographic Heart is. Traditionally, this isn’t a Number Twelve record at its core. While there are a handful of mathcore tracks, the album leans way more into post-hardcore, which they have done incredibly well.

If you are hoping for a chaotic mathcore/sasscore album akin to their earlier work, you might be disappointed; that being said, what more did you expect from The Number Twelve Looks Like You? They’ve generally never been one to stick to a formula or follow trends. This is a band that has always dabbled with other genres within the metal space, from progressive to metalcore.

Howls From the Holographic Heart is definitely on the softer side, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable album nonetheless. It’s also the band’s most experimental album, further expanding the band’s musical repertoire. Songs such as False Face and Hard to be Human have a distinct dance-punk vibe to them, the latter of which reminds me a lot of the short-lived band Men Women & Children.

Usually, I find myself a little bitter when a band I love evolves their sound into something somewhat different from what I’m used to, but with The Number Twelve Looks Like You, I’m actually stoked with this record. It’s heavy in places, catchy in others, and downright weird at times, but that’s the charm of this band, and this album is a testament to that. Only The Number Twelve could throw together mathcore, sass, post-hardcore, progressive metal, dance-punk, and a flamenco breakdown into one album, and it’s still a bop.