The top four tracks from the week of July 5-11.
Golden Fate; Water Break – Alpha Wolf
Alpha Wolf once again prove that Australians make better metalcore. These past few album singles are the first I’ve heard from Alpha Wolf, and this track is the first I’ve really liked. They play a heavy, sludgy version of metalcore that bands like Sworn In got huge off. What sets this band apart from the myriad of metalcore bands in the world is their lyrics. Whether you can understand what the vocalist says or not, it’s pretty clear from the music video that this song is about a friend taking their own life, and there’s no question that that is a raw, emotional and honest topic, especially in this time. Suicide continues to affect people’s lives daily, and in a genre that can often glorify violence for the sake of violence, it’s awesome to hear a band tackle an emotional topic and wrestle with it. This song isn’t super hopeful or happy. It’s gut wrenching, emotional, and real, just like life. Alpha Wolf prove that they’re more than just a band, thinking through their process by matching the lyrics to the feel of the song and capturing that moment in song form. I can’t wait to listen to this entire album and just bang my head over and over.
RIYL: Silent Planet, Sworn In, Villains
Icronic – Polyphia
Polyphia continue to move towards more electronic influences, and I really love it. It’s so groovy, and that’s really the only word to use for this song. The guitarists and bassist are so in sync with one another, trading lick for lick effortlessly and intricately from the moment the song begins. I really hope this style of music makes it way further into the hip-hop community, because these guys were built for mashing up two genres. The skills involved with this band is worthy of note alone, but the fact that they continue to push forward and experiment instead of making the same music over and over is why this innovative band is at the front of the genre. There are definitely naysayers who aren’t happy they’ve departed from their mathcore roots, but you can’t hold an innovative band like this back. Just sit back and groooooooove.
RIYL: Chon, Strawberry Girls, Good Tiger
Delight – Shrezzers
Shrezzers should be on everyone’s radar. This russian band is a post-hardcore band with a saxophonist as a full time member. Just appreciate that. PLUS, this band is actually incredible. They’re each so talented, and they will be huge in no time. The guitarist is one of the best in the genre. The vocalist has a beautiful voice. The list goes on and on. What truly sets them apart is how catchy everything they do is. Each riff gets stuck in my head. The chorus. The saxophone solo. The breakdown. They all are so well done. And the thing about these guys is that you really don’t have to be in to the genre to like them, or at the very least, appreciate them. It’s so funky, so groovy, so out-there that it almost transcends genres to create this mash-up of music styles that some how works so well.
RIYL: Polyphia, Dance Gavin Dance, Secrets
Witness – Wage War
I’ll keep saying it, but the genre–and the scene–is theirs for the taking. If this album sells as well as I think it will, they will be at Bring Me The Horizon circa 2013 levels in no time. They have a knack for commercially accessible yet edgy enough riffs, breakdowns, screams, and cleans that both shallow fans and huge fans of the genre alike can get into their music. The breakdowns hit hard, and the lyrics hit even harder. Never ones to shy away from polarizing lyrical content, their boldness has paid off as they are poised for an extremely successful album, side-stepping the sophomore slump all together. Why so many people latch on to these guys is they play a familiar style of metalcore with a slightly new twist on it that will be copied for years to come. I’d compare this to what happened when The Devil Wears Prada released With Roots Above and Branches Below, and then two years later every band was trying to sound like that release. All of that aside, this song showcases all of those things perfectly. Catchy, groovy riffs, heavy breakdowns that are just different enough to not get called out for being boring, and the right balance of sing-scream. I cannot wait to watch this band get bigger and bigger. I just hope they don’t turn into a hard rock band featured on Octane radio.
RIYL: Erra, Memphis May Fire, Fit For A King
Again, if you like any of these, all my Tasty Tuesday Tracks are in this spotify playlist.
Alastair Heinrichs 