Last View

Become The Storm EP

Written by: AP on 11/03/2010 23:32:52

Remaining within the confines of the Swedish border, next up for scrutiny are Last View, who recently celebrated their first anniversary as a band. Their trade is metalcore from the darker end of the spectrum, in the vein of Miss May I, Mychildren Mybride and lots of other aspirants from far and wide. Therein lies also the essence of Last View's latest EP, "Become the Storm": it ticks all the necessary boxes for competence, but lacks an identity of its own, sounding instead like a mash-up of the two aforementioned bands. What is needed is a sense of purpose.

Thankfully at least, the band wastes no time and bursts straight into an explosive, if standard staccato riff that immediately brings to mind Darkest Hour at their most urgent (for example "These Fevered Times" or "The Sadist Nation"). One immediately makes note of the uncompromising, pressing intensity and, should you be so fortunate as to have access to the lyrics booklet, the rich metaphors used in Last View's lyrics. Lyrics, which are delivered by the band's main asset: two vocalists with vastly different screaming techniques. One sounds like Matthew Hasting (Mychildren Mybride), while the other empoys a manic, distorted yell akin to Oli Sykes (Bring Me The Horizon) and occasionally the growling technique often used in deathcore, also similar to Oli Sykes.

But aside the vocals there is little content to latch onto. One hums the melodies and headbangs ever so slightly in between key strokes, but apart from the standout track "Liaisons", which bears a certain resemblance to Mychildren Mybride's "Faithless", the three songs are standard metalcore fare with breakdowns, horror chords and recycled melodies aplenty. Were I to choose between this and their industrially assembled transatlantic colleagues, Last View's raw, unpolished mix and grueling ferocity gets the gold medal because at the very least it sounds honest. Word has it these boys have a debut album in the works - it will be interesting to see how much, if at all, the band has progressed and what they have done in order to separate themselves from the nondescript masses.

6

Download: Liaisons, Anastacia
For the fans of: Bridge To Solace, Miss May I, Mychildren Mybride
Listen: Myspace

Release date 2009
Record Union

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