"The newest release by New Jersey's Clearview cuts deep. Through an intense delivery of emotional lyrics backed by ambient noise, "There Used to be Happiness Here" starts off in a very real place and never really seems to leave it. 

Although they clearly draw from a variety of post-hardcore influences, Clearview seems to spin them into something new by making more use of clean guitar and relying on heavy subject matter to drive their music into a darker dimension. Guitar swells in and out around distorted bass and powerful drums; songs build from delicate intros into powerful crescendos, and even though Clearview incorporate quite a few elements of heavier music into their sound, "There Used to be Happiness Here" is perhaps best described as an album to listen to with your eyes closed and your head down: an album to grieve to. 

FFO: Defeater, Old Gray, Pianos Become the Teeth, Touche Amore, The Cure, As Cities Burn, Frail Body, La Dispute"