High Rise

Left It For Everything

Written by: MAK on 16/10/2016 15:57:23

It seems that the farther 2016 progresses, the more melodic hardcore bands that crawl out of the woodwork with new material for the masses. Insert London-based High Rise, as yet another one of the United Kingdom’s exports in this genre. Although having formed in 2014, the quintet has already played alongside the likes of Lock & Key, Press to Meco and more, as well had a slot at the popular alternative music night club, Facedown. High Rise recently unveiled their second EP, “Left It for Everything” showing maturity in their songwriting and hoping to keep thriving in a sea of similar-sounding acts.

Some might consider the over-saturation of melodic hardcore a bad thing, as it can lead to repetition and too many bands sounding far too much alike. But on the flipside to that negativity, there is going to be a level of competition and drive within the scene to be better than the peers, or at least stand out against them in some way. High Rise fits in with that latter statement, pushing away from some of the stereotypical factors that make up the genre, and throwing in more hooking segments to make the songs more appealing.

Catchy as hell vocal melodies and guitar hooks to match them is the first aspect that stood out from an initial listen. The lead single, “Piece by Piece”, constantly pricks your ears as the dynamic of the song changes several times during its span, opening with tension-building riffs, throat-tearing shouts and a hard hitting attitude. That soon flows into a near punk-rock like atmosphere, as though suddenly the song switches from sounding like Beartooth to Rise Against in a split second. The cleaner vocals and passive guitars help the heavier sections impact harder. You get the idea that High Rise wants to take the initial energy that hardcore produces and then launch into a much grander perspective — to create a bigger, cinematic sound. Production and song structure -wise it at least feels that way.

Opening track “Hands Untied” for one opens with a riff not too dissimilar to A Day to Remember’s “A Plot to Bomb the Panhandle”, the heavy sound of crushing riffs seeping into vicious Sam Carter-esque (Architects) screaming shouts in the verse. The song then evolves into an anthemic clean chorus that flows right into the high-tempo bridge of fast riffs and beats, enough to make you want to aggressively two-step. The song shoves many different emotions at you, ones that make you want to cause chaos in moshpits, and others that make you want to sing your lungs out — and on top of that there are pure fun moments packed into the track as well.

While the majority of this EP is a mixture of vicious verses, uplifting choruses and punk-influenced segments, High Rise does take a moment to show their more melodic side with “L.I.F.E”. The title track which is showcased with an acronym pushes the tone of their EP into darker territory by way of gut-rendering emotions that escape in a mixture of passionate shouts and epic clean singing choruses. The guitars emulate that emotion with softer melodies placed between punchy riffs.

High Rise stands out by blending sub-genres that have yet to be experimented with on a larger scale. “Left It for Everything” is a well-produced compilation of songs that hook in various tastes in alternative music. It’s mildly ambitious, yet not entirely unique. The heavy material with big hooking choruses harks back to the formula that A Day to Remember popularised, yet the clean singing is less infectiously pop-punk and more in the line of alternative rock — meaning less of the sickly sweet taste in your mouth that pop-punk sometimes leaves.

7

Download: Piece by Piece, L.I.F.E, Hands Untied
For The Fans Of: Beartooth, Architects, The Ghost Inside
Listen: Facebook

Release date 16.09.2016
Self-released

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