Hold Hands

Best Friends & Missed Friends EP

Written by: PP on 26/01/2012 13:38:10

When it comes to quality Scandinavian punk and hardcore, Sweden has always been the primary place to look in despite recent advances by both Danish and Norwegian scenes. Hold Hands are yet another example of a band in the genre that hasn't yet been discovered by the people at large (only 544 likes on their Facebook page as of this writing), but deliver an explosive melodic hardcore expression on their debut EP "Best Friends & Missed Friends" that's capable of standing with even footing with the big names in the genre.

Intensity, urgency, and ultra-technical riffs. Those are some of the keywords associated with the expression that draws equally much from Strike Anywhere style melodic punk/hardcore as it does from the technicalities of bands like A Wilhelm Scream and Belvedere, and from the youthful energy found in the pop-hardcore of Set Your Goals' early releases. The screaming can at times be extremely aggressive, but it's balanced out with solid melody lines and SYG-style singing that's high on energy and hooks. As a whole, it's a little heavier, more compressed and faster than SYG ever were, but then again Hold Hands can also slow things down to almost post-rock inspired soundscapes, such as the ending on "I Felt Like Winter All Over Again" or the lengthy build up "Våra Sista Dagar Som Barn (Part 1)" to its five-minute Part 2 successor. In the former, the lofty tremolo and atmospheric section add a curiously strong contrast to the reckless abandon that the band otherwise fire ahead with throughout the EP, and it could be interesting to see the band explore this style a little more on their future efforts. A half-and-half mix between the explosive melodic hardcore and post-rock inspired pop-hardcore should be the way to go for these guys.

Download: It Felt Like Winter All Over Again
For the fans of: Set Your Goals, Strike Anywhere, Hear The Siren, Belvedere
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 01.11.2011
Self-Released

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