Sunday 3 June 2012

Palisades - I'm Not Dying Today EP






I thought I'd take a slight break from reviewing extreme metal bands and focus my attention elsewhere for a bit. This is the latest EP by New Jersey post-hardcore band Palisades. It's a five song effort that's been released by Rise Records.

Tracklist:-

1. Disclosure
2. Bury It
3. Immortal
4. Seamless Ending
5. Wolves



After the initial programmed beats of opener Disclosure, you're treated to a slickly produced, modern take on post-hardcore. Pop-punk inspired melodies, with sporadic screaming. The guitars and drums seem to be buried beneath the vocals and the programming at little bit, which is disappointing and this EP could have a huge sound, but when the breakdowns play out at the end of the song, they still sound crushing.

Bury It sounds like the kind of rave induced metal that kids are craving now. It's certainly really accomplished and while there are a lot of electronics at play here,
it's obvious that Palisades are a pop-punk band with hardcore influences using dance and electro to add variety to their music, and not just an electro band playing at being a pop-punk band.

It does remind me slightly of bands like Asking Alexandria, which is no surprise really. I've said before that this kind of heavy music serves a purpose, to help get younger kids into metal and eventually into heavier stuff, but it doesn't sound unlistenable by any means. It's quite brutal in parts, where the drums and guitars are allowed to breathe on their own.

The songs here don't outstay their welcome and Palisades cram plenty of variation into them. The start of Seamless Ending sounds like the band are playing dubstep, using a chainsaw. Last song, Wolves is a big song for the band to end the EP with. The chorus is loud and slick and the drums can be heard here, along with those breakdowns again which make it into the most traditional sounding post-hardcore song on the EP.

I'll be honest here and say that this type of post-hardcore/pop-punk isn't quite my thing, for the reason that it seems over-programmed, but I can see that it will appeal to
a lot of people. It sounds good and it's not a horrible soundclash.  Current fans of this specific sub-genre will lap up Palisades, but part me hopes that some of their recent new signings will bring some traditional influences to other bands on the label and help them to move away from the programmed heavy sound that they rely on. That said though, I will be giving this repeat listens!

You can purchase I'm Not Dying Today from the Rise Records store at http://riserecords.merchnow.com/ and you can listen to tracks from the EP via the Rise Records Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/riserecords.

Also, you can hear music streamed directly at http://www.facebook.com/WeArePalisades.

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