It Prevails

Perdition

Written by: PP on 09/03/2015 23:35:49

Formed in 2004 and having released their debut album "The Inspiration" in 2007, It Prevails were one of the pioneering bands within the resurgence of melodic hardcore and together with Misery Signals, somewhat ahead of their time when their record first came out. It wasn't until The Ghost Inside released their breakthrough album "Returners" in 2010 before the genre was popularized and subsequently emulated by dozens and dozens of bands that probably would've been playing straight up metalcore if it wasn't for the infusion of melody and optimism into their expression. Many forget It Prevails' role in the genre because they were never the best band in the genre despite having all the right elements in their expression. "Perdition", their fourth album, is more of the same in a genre that is very quickly starting to deflate due to oversaturation of bands sounding more or less identical to each other, and thus likely to continue the course for the group in that context.

Think Counterparts, Hundredth, For Today, Gateways, Farewell To Freeway, Elephantis, Envy The Fallen, For The Fallen Dreams, Landscapes, and so forth. All bands that go for similarly grandiose melodic passages and lingering guitar licks that create that uplifting sense of optimism so many melodic hardcore bands have these days. All of that is happening by the book on "Perdition" as well, with the differentiating factor being the emo cleans directly sourced from post-hardcore that rarely fit into the soundscape otherwise. The ravaging screams of their vocalist are good, but somewhat anonymous compared to many of their contemporaries (especially Jonathan Vigil). The lyrics are more difficult to decipher and thus the scream, while reasonably melodic, feels monotone. The idea has been to contrast these with the cleans to create an exciting dynamic, but it is too stark to work properly.

On a few songs, It Prevails underline why they were one of the first bands in the genre doing this. "Fighter" and "Iron Inside" in particular demonstrate this through extended screeching guitars that add an entirely different dimension to hardcore than the regular definition of the genre. These melodic parts are what lift It Prevails and particularly their closest counterparts in, yes, Counterparts from a generic sound into something special. The only problem is that on "Perdition", this doesn't happen often enough. Four years ago this release would've passed easily as one of the better ones in the genre, but these days melodic hardcore bands are a dime-a-dozen so you need to stand out from the grey mass. The guitars and instrumentals are top notch, but the overall package leaves It Prevails somewhat behind the better releases in the genre.

Download: Fighter, Iron Inside, Borrowed Time, Blanket The World
For the fans of: Counterparts, Hundredth, For Today, Gateways, The Ghost Inside
Listen: Facebook

Release date 20.01.2015
Mediaskare Records

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