Chasing Safety

The Machine

Written by: BL on 28/02/2014 21:20:30

For reasons mostly due to a lack of momentum following their full length "Revived" in 2012, Cherry Hill, New Jersey's Chasing Safety changed their name from their old moniker of "Us, From The Outside". Their new EP "The Machine" contains five tracks including a cover of "Helena" from My Chemical Romance. It's a strange feeling hearing a modern post-hardcore/metalcore take on such an iconic mainstream song, with some of the emotive aspects of the original lost through gimmicky breakdowns and hard screams. That said, as a throwback and probably fans of the original, it's not bad and is a fun spin if you don't take it too seriously. Chasing Safety's own material is hardly anything new for anyone who is keeping up with the latest bands in this scene, but they pull it off with enough conviction to make this restart attempt off to a decent start.

The best part of this EP is showcasing the singing talents of bassist Kenny Davis. Sure he has a rather typical high pitched voice, but his vocal melodies on the opening song "We Believe" and the soft ballad "Time Zones" are excellent and superbly catchy. They're not overdone nor convoluted, but far surpassing that of the average startup band formed by kids still in high school. Obviously given that Chasing Safety aren't technically a new band on the block means this should be less of a surprise. And while generic the instruments may be with chugging rhythm guitars and stuttering effects throughout, there are minor flourishes of good riffage and cool lead guitars here and there in small doses but enough to be noticed. "No Way To Live" has some interesting theatrical aspects, and some nice subtle ambience. The only downside is that it perhaps rests on its laurels a little too much, where the chorus almost comes close to a boil but is just missing a few notes here and there to really seal the deal. "The Machine" meanwhile uses plenty of decent melodies and surprisingly prominent use of lead guitars, but has a rather cliched theme, and the heavier moments aren't necessarily antagonistic enough to really floor you. Finally we have "Time Zones" which, if you can stomach the overly sweet tones in the lyrics, is actually quite a pleasing ballad due to some great vocal lines.

It may feel like these Chasing Safety are constraining themselves to the genre at times, but they take it and do it better than some bands more successful than themselves. Branching out in their full length should that be their next step (most likely so) will do this band a lot of good. In the meantime, if you enjoy what modern metalcore/post-hardcore has to offer without bemoaning all it has to disappoint you, then for such a short release, you really could do a lot worse than "The Machine".

6

Download: We Believe, The Machine
For the fans of: Crown The Empire, Memphis May Fire, Ice Nine Kills
Listen: Facebook

Release date 03.02.2014
Outerloop Management



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