Saturday 27 January 2018

Perception - Monolith EP


Labels: Self-Released
Formats: Digital
Release Date: 09 March 2018

Tracklist:

1. Strive
2. Defy Dismay
3. Survive
4. Monolith
5. Closure

This is the second EP from Southern UK progressive metalcore band Perception. The quartet released formed in 2012 and released their debut EP "Collapse' is 2016 and Perception are due to release "Monolith" on March 9th 2018. They'll be heading out in support of the new EP, when they tour alongside fellow UK modern metal band Construct in May. You can read what I said about this EP's title-track here back in May of last year.


Perception is another in the growing crop of UK tech-metal bands. Their music blends together modern electronic music, death metal and hardcore. On EP opener Strive, there’s a hint of Swe-death  amongst all of the characteristic textures that make up modern UK progressive metal. It’s heavy with some great clean vocals, while the instrumentation takes the lead over the electronic elements. The melodic riffs on Defy Dismay are great while the way that Perception switches between them and more brutal riffs seems easy. They’re good at building atmosphere and then unleashing mammoth hooks as well. It is a polished effort so far. 

Survive contains a great mix of clean/harsh vocals and plenty of off-kilter guitar work. It’s fairly easy to compare Perception’s sound to that of more established bands but individually and on their own merit, they’re very strong indeed. I’ve written about this EP’s title-track before but once more won’t hurt. It follows a more technical lineage and it’s pretty surprising how much musicality Perception manages to fit into it. 

EP closer Closure is an apt song to end on and it’s a lot more ambient and atmospheric. Perception tones down their aggressive nature and uses strings and subtle guitar to back up the emotive screams. It does feel as though it’s going to explode but it doesn’t, instead the band settles into a mid-paced and cinematic stomp that’s more reflective. It’s a great way to finish and shows that the band can write songs that take from all different sub-genres of heavy music, while retaining their own identity. Fantastic stuff. Perception is definitely worth checking out when they officially release Monolith.

You can stream the EP's opening song "Strive" via Perception's Facebook page here - https://www.facebook.com/PerceptionUK/

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