I bet you 10 dollars you've never heard an emo song that has a synth in it. Well, "Doing Justice to Closure" by Hope's the Carrot doesn't just have a synth in it, it's driven by a synth. It even has a synth solo (which is awesome, by the way).

This song is a nearly 6 minute song, and the first 3 are actually not that great. Other than the synth line that is continuous throughout the song, there's nothing really original here. The vocals are off-key and somewhere between a wail and yell, which is never good. It actually meshes with the chorus, oddly enough, but in the verses it's annoying.

But at 3:45, there is an explosion of noise augmented by screams and a spoken word interlude. Then, all hell breaks lose. Two screamers virtually destroy their lungs, dark guitars thrash, drums flail wildly, bass thumps, and the wailing vocals return, but now they work, as they are just another piece of the chaos. This section, which is from 4:07 to the end at 5:45, is pure emo. These aren't brutal metal screams. These are the screams of futility, of emotion that can't escape, of pain, of true anger. That is true emo. The last section here is brutal in a completely satisfying way. I was in awe of the chaos that was created.

If the first three minutes of this song could be lopped off, this would be one of my favorite emo songs, because the last three minutes are a truly lovely shot to the back of the head. Hope's the Carrot is a band that understands the true meaning of emotional hardcore. If you want to know what real emo sounds like, listen to Hope's the Carrot.