REVIEWS
There’s plenty of music released every single month, and with each Monthly Music Roundup article, we share some quick reviews of several releases from throughout the month that we personally enjoyed and want to cover. EPs
Empty “From A Chemist’s Point Of View” Empty have released their latest EP, titled “From A Chemist’s Point Of View.” The opener and title track “From A Chemist’s Point Of View” brings tons of energy right off the bat and instantly shows the band’s more aggressive side. Catchy riffs drive the track and lead it up to the equally as memorable chorus, with a mix of those aggressive vocals and very impressive clean vocals, and while the tempo changes took me by surprise, they grabbed my attention and really helped make the song stand out. Speaking of - the biggest standout on here is the middle track, “Slow Death By Fluorescent Lighting.” While it does have a bit of aggression in the very catchy chorus and towards the end, the vocals are generally way more melodic and the clean vocals, especially in that chorus, put on some of the most impressive and powerful vocal performances on this EP. Closing out the EP is arguably the most aggressive one, “You Call Yourself A Shepherd.” Despite the more melodic chorus, the rest of the song is a lot heavier, and the feature from Earth Groans’ Jeremy Schaeffer fits perfect, with his voice complimenting the voice of this band’s vocalist very well. “From A Chemist’s Point Of View” is a fantastic and overall very impressive release, showing many influences in the heavy music scene, from melodic hardcore to metalcore and everything in between. Havens “It Could Be Worse” Havens have released their debut EP, titled “It Could Be Worse.” Opening track “Stranger” kicks things off on a powerful note, with tons of energy throughout and vocal performances full of passion. That continues on with the vocal performances found in the following track, “Happy Again,” particularly in the emotional chorus, and the darker instrumentals accompanying those vocals make the track even more intriguing and interesting. “No Control” is a bit more upbeat, and brings some extremely catchy melodies and instrumentals to the table, and the lyrics touch on very important topics - addiction and mental health. Closing out this EP is “Displaced Truth,” one where the instrumentals take more of a step back at first, allowing the vocals to really shine, and both the vocal and instrumental performances on this one have a lot of emotion as well, making a strong final track for the EP. “It Could Be Worse” shows Havens heading in the same direction they went in with their last single, really embracing their post-hardcore influences, and still bringing so much emotion. The Red Summer Sun “Exit Signs” The Red Summer Sun have released their latest EP, titled “Exit Signs.” Opening track “Wasted Days” leans more towards the pop punk side, as well as a track later on titled “Now Or Never,” which is one of the catchiest songs found on this entire EP. A few more of these tracks mix those influences with influences of other genres, such as emo and alternative rock. Title track “Exit Signs” instantly draws the listener in with the catchy hooks, “Monster” brings a powerful and equally as catchy chorus that lets both the instrumentals and vocals take the spotlight, and “Falling” truly shows off the talent that this vocalist has, accompanied by more catchy instrumentation. “Queen For A Day” is much slower and softer, and similarly to “Falling,” shows off the vocals through an emotional performance, which gets even better during the second verse, chorus, and bridge in partcitular, and “Skeletons” mixes in some pop, indie and alternative influences in with the pop punk, emo and alt rock sound found on the rest of this EP. “Exit Signs” is a very strong sophomore release from The Red Summer Sun, and the variety and elements of surprise and unpredictability really made it stand out. ALBUMS Crown The Empire “Sudden Sky” Crown The Empire have released their latest record, titled “Sudden Sky.” The overall sound of this record shows them continuing in the direction they went in on their previous album, “Retrograde,” and a handful of tracks on here are reminiscent of that, from the energetic riffs and drumbeats found on singles “20/20” and “what i am” and the darker, heavier instrumentals driving “Red Pills” and “SEQU3NCE,” one of the heaviest tracks on the entire release. Not to mention that extremely catchy choruses and screamed vocals are also incorporated in all of the above. Title track “Sudden Sky” is a bit similar in that aspect, where the clean vocals are a lot more raw and sometimes shouted,m and it fits well with the harsher vocals on the track. “MZRY” embraces the direction Crown went in on this record, while also adding in some of the aggression found in their previous work, while “March Of The Ignorant” really shows off this new sound and is one of the most melodic tracks found on here. This record also includes some pretty big standouts from their discography, including “(X),” a spoken word introductory track that shows a lot of emotion, “Under The Skin,” a ballad that does the same through its powerful chorus, and “Blurry (out of place),” one of the most melodic and one of the catchiest tracks the band has written to date. “Sudden Sky” shows the constant evolution and experimentation within Crown The Empire’s sound, and is a pretty interesting listen. NU-95 “Fall Until We Fly” NU-95 released their debut LP, titled “Fall Until We Fly.” A lot of this album shows some early post-hardcore and emo nfluences, beginning with the one-two punch of the captivating opener “Brick Walls And Persian Rugs” and equally as memorable “The House On Ridgedale Dr.,” both of which contain a great balance of clean and unclean vocals and show impressive performances both vocally and instrumentally. “Broken Home” brings a pretty aggressive breakdown, while “Cry Wolf” has a mix of more melodic sections and much heavier ones, including the breakdown, which had some of the harshest vocals offered on the record. Speaking of the heavier aspects on the album, “Mutiny” mixes these post-hardcore influences with some metal core ones, and “For What It’s Worth” is one of the heaviest on the entire record (excluding its more melodic chorus). The remaining tracks seem to draw influences from the more melodic subgenres in the scene, with the catchy riffs and choruses on “Wasted Love” and “Fake Friends” showing more pop punk elements. “Without Me” is similar, bringing a ton of energy and a very memorable chorus and being a major standout overall, and “Fall Until We Fly” brings emotional, powerful and impressive performances with the clean vocals and adds in a bit of aggression as well. “Fall Until We Fly” shows not only the many influences that make up NU-95’s unique sound, but also shows how much potential they have, and it’s a very strong debut LP. Super Low “Super Low” In the middle of the month, Super Low released their self-titled debut LP. Their unique indie and alternative sound is shown throughout the ten tracks on the record. Their sound sometimes gives off a more laid-back vibe, and a few songs really embrace that, such as “Lancaster,” which has really catchy guitar parts, and “Along,” an acoustically driven track with added piano that fits very well. On the other hand, there are some more upbeat tracks to be found on here as well, such as “Brighton,” where the drums and synths really drive the energy, “Wasp-A-Needle,” with catchy melodies and instrumentals all around, and “Runners Ups,” a memorable single with powerful performances (especially vocally). The remaining tracks on the record are full of moments that mix of all of that together, from the dynamics on the opener “Unlimited Data” to the captivating vocals and instrumentals on “Beginning,” to the upbeat, yet soft instrumentation found on “Covered In Flames,” “Morning,” and the interesting closing track “Silver.” Super Low’s self titled Plans “Get The Bad Out” Plans released their debut LP, titled “Get The Bad Out.” A handful of these songs show off the band’s emo/alternative influenced sound, such as the opener “The Rent’s Due,” the very energetic and catchy “Bicycle Day,” and the very instrumentally impressive “Boundaries.” “Rock Island” and “5.19.17” are both a bit more hard hitting and also allow the instrumentals to shine, and “Warm Hamm’s,” “Unemployment (The Silence Of Settling),” and “Vesuvius” all deliver very emotional vocal performances and add in some pop punk and rock influences to the sound on this record. Some of the biggest standouts on the record are “Unholy Medicine,” an acoustically driven track that slows things down for a bit, “Little Bird,” one that incorporates synths, softer vocals and more pop leaning melodies to showcase even more new influences, “Track 3,” which isn’t the third track, but does bring a lot of emotion and emphasis as it builds up to the ending, and the closing track “Borrowed Time” brings even more emotion through the vocals and instrumentals. “Get The Bad Out” is a strong debut album, filled from front to back with so much passion and emotion in every way. Sum 41 “Order In Decline” Sum 41 have released their highly anticipated new album, titled “Order In Decline.” A lot of the songs on here bring a ton of energy, much like a lot of their older material. “The People Vs…” and “45 (A Matter Of Time)” show the band’s punk rock roots through fast paced instrumentals and raw, shouted vocals. “A Death In The Family” does the same thing, adding in a bit of aggression vocally and mixing that with more melodic sections (such as the memorable chorus), and that song and “Out For Blood” both have very impressive guitar solos. The band does slow things down for a few of these songs, particularly “Never There,” which is driven by acoustic guitar and piano for the most part and shows a whole new side to the vocals, and “Catching Fire,” which is easily one of the most memorable tracks. “The New Sensation” is also on the much slower and much more melodic side, but still contains a lot of raw emotion and aggression, “Heads Will Roll” seems to show influences from other styles and subgenres of rock, and “Eat You Alive” and opener “Turning Away” both bring dark, captivating instrumentals and are some of my favorites on the whole album. Sum 41’s latest effort includes many elements of their previous material, while also experimenting a little bit and there, providing something for fans both new and old to enjoy.
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