The City Divided

The Endless Moment EP

Written by: PP on 17/10/2012 02:29:32

The City Divided are a young and relatively inexperienced post-hardcore band from Hertfordshire, UK, who have just recently put out their debut EP "The Endless Moment". It's a fairly predictable and unspectacular post-hardcore release that draws from the likes of Funeral For A Friend, Finch, and other mainstays from the early era of the genre when it was still rising to popularity, especially placing focus on the emotional flavor of the genre. In short, it's packed with standard emo clean vocals, some cheesy piano melodies, and dynamic post-hardcore release with measured screaming added in for contrast in exactly the right places.

The problem is that we've heard this same exact record probably a thousand times since then. While that isn't an issue as long as you're able to write either great guitar hooks or infectious melody lines, for The City Divided these come only in moderation, with a distinct vibe of amateurishness surrounding the whole release from production to the singing style. The brief forays into Dead By April style pop-metal don't make things much better. "Can't Stop Their Laughing" is a catchy piece and easily the best track on the record, but from here onward it's drowned in clichés and generic songwriting. The latter is best displayed in the extremely weird decision to finish off the EP with a harsh metalcore piece all of a sudden with "Waiting At The Gates". It sounds nothing like the rest of the record, and has some cheesy electronics added in what seems like a desperate measure to stay current with all the trends of the scene at the moment. Unfortunately, it's too thinly veiled an effort to not stand out immediately as trend-hugging of the worst kind.

In the end, "The Endless Moment" isn't an average effort in an extremely saturated genre. It's not going to end up in anyone's record collection as it is. That being said, the opening track shows some potential to be had, so the band need to work on the following: more charisma, more on tune singing, and much stronger melodies and riffs overall.

6

Download: Can't Stop Their Laughing,
For the fans of: Parties Break Hearts, Funeral For A Friend, Yashin
Listen: Facebook

Release date 06.08.2012
Self-Released

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