Drown This City- Colors We Won’t know

Australia has two things: fauna that it would normally be harmless in every other part of the world but In Australia snakes can create black holes out of nowhere, spiders can steal your credit card making you owe money to the banks for life, and fish will make you relive every time you stepped on to a Lego brick. The second thing that Australia has is amazing bands that have appeared in the last 15 years.  A very interesting batch of bands dwell mostly in the modern approach of metal: metalcore, deathcore, djent, progressive starting with the godfathers of this era, the mighty Karnivool. On the heavier side of these bands, the relatively young Drown This City caught my attention a couple of years back when they released their second  EP Alpha/Survivor, a mix of deathcore/djent infused riffs with melodic choruses in the voice of the talented Alexandra Reade, who not only did the clean vocals but also added some of her talent in the growl/scream realm alongside their former bassist/growler Matt Bean. Now, thanks to the help of guitarist Josh and Abbey at UNFD Records (thanks a lot to you both for the promo) I have had the chance to listen to their new EP Colors We Won’t Know in advance and here are some words dedicated to it.

Colors We Won’t Know goes straight to the point, with unleashed anger and . Gemini, the opener of the ep, builds up from a sort of intro to the song with Alex singing over  some soft electronic beats and guitar arpeggios to a full band appearance , Toby’s screams included, displaying a  cadent beat now provided by drums, guitars and bass. All this goes out the window because on the following track , Time Won’t Remember Us, all the instruments plus Toby’s angry screams punch you to the face. A more upbeat rhythm than that of Gemini, the deathcore vibe mixes perfectly with djent-y riffs as well as Alex‘s clean vocals mix perfectly with Toby’s growls. Beyond The Glare starts similarly as Gemini,with a groovy drum beat, an arpeggiated guitar riff and now Alex takes the lead in a  sad calmness while stripping away all of her childhood painful memories. The song continues with a riff a la Monuments intertwining Toby’s and Alex’s vocals and a few pauses here and there to add more dynamics to the song. Anthony’s drumming style marks its presence in a manner similar to that of Sleep Token’s drummer.Just when you think it’s over, a very nasty breakdown makes its appearance to hit you one final time. And now it’s time for the jewel of the Ep, Carbon 14 makes you want to punch a hole through the wall right from the beginning, leaving you space to breathe only when Alex sings through the chorus. The breakdown at the end is the cause of the San Andreas Fault.

Quickly, the end is at the door with the last two songs, being Borderline Existence the second single released, and New World Order the first single and video of the EP. Both are probably the most single worthy choices of the ep since there is a balance between the sheer aggression of the verses and the soothing melody of the chorus and bridge. The main difference between the two songs is that Borderline Existence has a faster drum beat than New World Order while the latter contains another beautiful breakdown that the former doesn’t contain.

All in all, it’s another great release of Drown This City. Their blend of deathcore with small electronic beats and melodic vocals is quite unique and so their sound is easily recognizable for the trained ear. However, there are two issues: the first one is that, although there are 6 songs, the EP lasts no more than 21, 22 minutes being quite shorter than I would like to and the second is that Alex’s clean vocals are less featured that in their previous EPs. I mean, it’s probably 50% Alex and 50% Toby but I would really love a more 60/70% Alex. Anyway, a very much awaited release on my behalf so I’m very happy to hear new songs by them and here I’ll be waiting for their full length album, hopefully not long enough.}

Ranking: 4 out of 5

Colors We Won’t Know by Drown This City out on May, 28th via UNFD Records

Drown This City Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC__GWxNSkpsaEsj3u71EK3g

UNFD Records: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCST_KTjlK574mzXHDan7-_Q

DTC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drownthiscityband/

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