This March sees local band BRACE follow up their 2012 split with new EP Conscious Thinking. Sitting pretty at 7 songs of blistering north-east hardcore
metal, this EP is longer than the average, but at no point will you be looking
at your watch.
The EP begins with Oh How We
Sang, which is reminiscent of The Chariot: a choir is just audible underneath
feedback, before a terribly dark guitar riff and Adam Dempster's vocals unveils
this new, improved, and angrier band. This definitely sets the tone for the rest of the EP.
There are moments, such as in Line After
Line, which are clearly the BRACE we all know and love, but there seems to
be a lot more energy and emotion throughout.
Conscious Thinking also has plenty of moments of just pure metal, like in Living, which was released for free
earlier this year. However, what I've always admired about BRACE is that they seem
to take what they like from other genres and make it their own. When they came
on the scene they were one of the first bands I noticed that blended metal and
hardcore. This EP sees them trying a range of different things, like the horribly sad clean guitar that guides the path for Adam's pained vocals in In Repetition.
Only For Them To Say is heartbreaking. Is it the feedback? Is it the clean guitar? Is it the guest vocals from Bear Arms? I'd go for all of the above, but whatever it was
it stopped me in my tracks.
The EP ends heavy as hell. Mind
Your Head and And Keep On Walking
finish Conscious Thinking off on a sound close to something like that of While She
Sleeps. But don't think this is much of the same: again, like everything they
do, BRACE have made a sound all to their own, and all I want to do is a
spinning heel kick along to this.
It's their angriest and rawest recording to date. This is the
product of a bunch of hard-working guys who are particularly mad. For those who
caught them gigging recently, this might seem familiar, but nothing could get
you ready for what's to come in the future from this five piece.
Conscious Thinking by
BRACE is out on 1/3/2013 via Cold War Legacy.
JL
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