All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell, the second studio album from Pvris, opens with an absolute belter. Heavy hitting rolling drums on ‘Heaven’ are complemented by Lynn Gunn’s vocal dynamism. “You took my heaven away,” she cries repeatedly, and the track descends into a desperate burst of emotion, the strains of which appear on the opener recur vividly throughout this record – loss, pain and misery bleed from the cracks in each track in some way or another. Fortunately, Gunn has the Hayley Williams-esque voice to do this and the sentiment comes through as raw at the very least.

A combination of a traditional pop-rock sound and a more modern infusion of exaggerated bass with a fairly consistent undercurrent of synthesisers work to make the highlights on All We Know Of Heaven… catchy and memorable. In some instances, Pvris make this effort work – on ‘Heaven’, for example, or ‘Separate’, the penultimate song, which is a slow and heartfelt ballad throbbing along with a deep desire to keep a lover: “As long as they don’t separate you from me… I’ll be fine”. It’s a much more positive offering than any of the songs to come before it.

Pvris’ unleashing of their pent-up emotion on this album ultimately suffers, however. Firstly, a general affliction of thematic repetition that was meant to emphasise Gunn’s torment acts to dampen her messages slightly, and by the end of the record it all seems a bit overdone. A lot more can be said in considerably less run-time, and for a record only 43 minutes long, that’s not a good thing. Secondly, the ever-present synths, taking the wheel considerably more than they did on 2014 debut White Noise, often drown out the core concepts of the album with their modern sparkle that at times just feels a bit sonically inconsistent. ‘What’s Wrong’ has a bizarre pop sound that with its punchy drums and the vocal loop embedded in the chorus has an almost EDM-like twinge.

All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell is never as good as it is on its very first song, which remains the real highlight. Perhaps this is because the first exposition of the themes is the most powerful after which it begins to feel a bit tiresome, or perhaps because it’s simply the best use of electronic enhancement. The rest of the album is easy to listen to and there are a few very good offerings, but it’s not making any bold steps or statements. Pvris should not be afraid to take more risks. (5/10) (Josh Kirby)

Listen to All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell here via Spotify, and tell us what you think below!