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Stand Your Ground

Standards EP

Written by: PP on 23/12/2013 23:13:48

Fans of metalcore with lingering melodies and side ventures into hardcore should find themselves well acquainted with the sound presented by Stand Your Ground on their new EP "Standards", which follows roughly where "Despondenseas" left off a couple of years ago. We're still in the melodic hardcore territory where chugging metalcore leads meet embedded melody lines and emotionally tinged screams, so bands like The Ghost Inside, Hundredth, and why not even pioneers Misery Signals come to mind while listening to it.

If there was one thing that "Despondenseas" did well it was the intensity-factor. That record grabbed its listener into a headlock and didn't let go until it was finished. The production is a little less muscular ont his EP, so it's not quite as intense in comparison, but rest assured Stand Your Ground continue to live up to their name and meet any fans of hardcore halfway from the testosterone driven tough guy hardcore scene. Especially the vocals and the many two-step friendly segments should appeal to fans from said scene, while "Wake The Dead"-era Comeback Kid fans should find something to like in this department as well.

The band is, however, at their very best during the more melodic offerings like "Understanding". Here, the vocals stray away from the slightly monotonous screaming into something a little more melodic, the song is slowed down, and the melody lines have more room to breathe. More of these are needed, as it stands now "Standards" feels like its regressing back towards the more one-dimensional side of the hardcore scene that "Despondenseas" was so well trying to leave behind.

Download: Understanding, Contradictions
For the fans of: Misery Signals, The Ghost Inside, Hundredth, Comeback Kid
Listen: Facebook

Release date 25.06.2013
Self-Released