I thought ide promote a few albums ive been listening to lately, a couple are smaller bands who need the support, so go buy the cd if you listen and like (i know, im such a nice guy)
Ill start off with the song im listening to right now, Too Little Too Late - A Skylit Drive. The album, Identity On Fire, isnt actually that great overall, but that song and Fuck The System are two absolute beasts, for those who dont know A Skylit Drive are post hardcore, and this album has a tinge of synths. Nothing drastic, but it i actually think it really adds something to both those songs. The vocalists cleans might be a little high pitched / whiney for some, but the screams are very good (if you like screaming).
Close To Home's latest effort Never Back Down is one of the few albums in recent memory i can listen to without skipping any songs. Their sounds very versatile, but the basic formula tends to be very A Day To Remember, mixing heavy breakdowns, guttural growls and screams with soaring pop punk style chorus. At times the vocals take a very early Comeback Kid sound, a sort of half sing half shout, which i rather like. The stand out moments for me are the two opening tracks (not including the intro) Days of Our Lives and Count the Ways. Days of Our Lives is very Downfall of Us All (sorry for another A Day To Remember comparison) with a very uplifting chug-a-chug riff to open, before breaking into a more conventional pop punk sound, albeit with a slightly more frantic drum work. Count the Ways is my favourite track off the album, and where i feel they strike the balance between the heavy and pop punk best. The verses are filled with hate, growls, screams and shouts all over, with a catchy melodic chorus, backing woooaaahhs in abundance. The two contrasting points on the album (where they get heaviest and poppy-est) are All We Know, crunching, chugging metal guitars going toe to toe with the impressive range of screamed vocals, and Sink or Swim, instead showing off upbeat piano keys, beautiful soaring melodies and, of course, the gang 'woooaaahhhss' for the chorus. All in all a very impressive album, and definitely an accessible sound, the production softening the heaviness enough for less hardened ears (most of the time).
The last band imma write about for now is Ten After Two. Their 5 track ep If You Don't First massively impressed me. They lie on the heavier side of post hardcore, the clean/scream mix lying 60:40 in the favour of screams ide say, the guitar production heavy and crunching, and a point made of the (rather impressive) drum work. The first song, Behind Locked Doors, opens with a very hard, simple metal riff, deep from the bottom of your chest growls giving it a real punch. This contrasts wonderfully to the melodies of later in the song, which switches seamlessly from scream vocals to clean to a mixture of both, and honestly its all in all an extremely impressive song. Even the break downs don't sound like the same recycled break downs you've heard before, because they aren't. I'll be honest im not sure what it is, but they somehow manage to sound fresh and different in a genre which is awash with a sea of average bands, or unoriginal bands who recycle the same mix of melodies riffs and breakdowns over and over, in an attempt to rehash that full of promise first album feel three or four times. Honestly if your going to check out any of these bands, check out these, they are very very good.
Anyways, thanks for reading the blog as always, add me on twitter if you haven't already.
AJ (my nickname for those who dont know)
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