Thursday 15 May 2014

Atlases - Upbringing EP


As much as there's still a continuously bulging extreme metal scene, there's also a increasing modern metal/hardcore scene evolving in the UK. It seems that now more than ever, bands are rearing their heads to drag people away from nu-metal and major label popmo. I'm glad of this and even though some people reading this blog may turn their noses up, modern metal/hardcore has place here because it's what we all started with and what future extreme fans will start with.

Atlases self-released their debut EP Upbringing in January 2014. These five lads from Newbury, UK are just truly starting out but have a UK tour planned for this month with peers Prolong The Agony and have already garnered a lot of attention, even from Kerrang!

Tracklist:-

1. Betrayer
2. Secret Keeper
3. My Testament
4. The Deepest Dark
5. You Dreamer, You Fool
6. Consume/Deny

Opening with Betrayer, Atlases come across all djent thanks to the off-kilter guitar intro. The song itself is full emotive screams, powerful drumming and guitar melodies, which sit deep in the mix. Atlases add some nice touches too the song, with death metal vox in places and big atmospheric riff sections. It sets things up well. Secret Keeper is more bouncy and will get the two-steppers going live. I like the sections where they are more introspective, it shows maturity and a need to progress as a band, even at this premature stage in their career.

Atlases ratchet up the heaviness of My Testament. The screams show a vocalist on the edge, yet still stand up as life-affirming in a way that only hardcore vocals can. Also the fact that there are no false American accents here, makes it better too. There is heavy influence from the current crop of melodic-hardcore bands evident during The Deepest Dark, but that’s to be expected with a band finding their feet. The breakdowns are still mighty and the melody injected into the song is smile inducing. This is a pretty big song.

People who really like bands like Architects and the like, will dig You Dreamer, You Fool and in fact the whole EP. The cool thing is that Atlases are consistently strong across the whole EP. They know what they’re doing and they don’t try to be something they’re not. They close Upbringing with Consume/Deny, where they experiment a bit more with different textures at the start, before launching into a mighty hardcore anthem. No surprises that it’s their longest offering on the EP and hints a further promise from the band. 


A great effort and certainly worth a visit from anyone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously and gives young bands a chance. Atlases are doing no harm at all, in fact they’re a sound addition to the UK scene. 

Atlases don't have a bandcamp page or anything like that, but you can stream the EP via the Saviour PR Soundcloud page here - https://soundcloud.com/saviourpr

You can grab Upbringing from iTunes here - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/upbringing-ep and buy mercy from Atlases website here - http://www.atlasesuk.com

Atlases - https://www.facebook.com/AtlasesUK

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