Very few releases had as profound an impact on my teenaged music tastes than Deep Elm Records’ Emo Is Awesome, Emo is Evil, Vol 1. And few tracks on that compilation had the impact of Benton Falls “Angel on Hiatus,” a shapeshifting track that traverses the full spectrum of emo’s moods and dynamics with a powerful climax.

But like many of the bands discovered through that comp (see also: The Appleseed Cast), I didn’t dive too deeply into the records that provided those tracks. While many of the songs from Guilt Beats Hate ended up on various emo mix CD-Rs, it’s taken me until just now to buy a proper copy. The record has lost none of its potency though.

It’s difficult to quantify exactly what makes Benton Falls’ take on emo tropes so singular and effective. The songs have a very linear trajectory rather than cyclical. There’s not much you could call a verse or a chorus, instead linking together unique sections in a narrative fashion. The drums are often angular and asymmetrical, playing cascading patterns rather than straightforward grooves. The guitar and bass weave around eachother in intricate arpeggios, bursting in crashes of distorted chords. All the standard Midwest Emo vocabulary, but the way they use these pieces to construct their songs is inventive and free of cliche.

One of the biggest factors is the depth and richness of Michael Richardson’s voice, which tempers melody lines that wouldn’t be quite as effective in the more nasal and whiny voices that typified the genre. There’s a world weariness to it that lends a gravity to metaphors that could be clunky and juvenile otherwise. Sparingly-used background screams punctuate the band’s intensity just right.

Each of the songs is a solid emo banger on its own, but the energy as they flow from one song to another takes them to the next level. I didn’t think I could love “Angel On Hiatus” more, but hearing it in context makes it even more powerful. It’s not just a good song on a good record, but rather the peak of a thematic motif, like a soliloquy in a Shakespearean drama.  And while it’s unlikely that any scholars will throw themselves at the study of Benton Falls’ work, Guilt Beats Hate is a similarly timeless masterpiece.