Stick To Your Guns

True View

Written by: PP on 05/01/2018 22:59:22

If there's one band you can't fault for working tirelessly over the last decade or so, it's Stick To Your Guns. Aside from continuously being on tour, "True View" is their sixth album in just twelve years, all of which have showcased a gradual, but steady progress towards what is arguably their most melodic and uplifting album to date. While lingering melodies have always been a part of their approach to melodic hardcore to an extent, they have never sounded as arena-sized and anthemic as they do on this album. Think Comeback Kid and The Ghost Inside style melodies that often surpass either band where two-step, mosh-friendly breakdowns have been pushed aside to a supporting role instead.

Take "Delinelle", for instance. Vocalist Jesse Barnett, of course, utilizes his thick, clear scream to a great extent, but all bridges and choruses are sung in semi-clean fashion, resulting in an uplifting soundscape that echoes the best parts of Comeback Kid's gang-shouted awesomeness. Similarly, "56" is almost Northlane-esque with its melodic riffs and clean vocals that lend themselves for a very catchy sing-along "so if you're going under, don't let me go, let's just drown inside the things we love the most". "Married To The Noise" is another banger of an anthem with huge melodies and a polished, professional production that highlights all the best part of Stick To Your Guns' newly discovered lean towards the utmost melodic edges of melodic hardcore.

That said, the change has been gradual enough for older fans to have grown with their sound for all of this not to sound too radical. And for the naysayers, the band attaches brutal hardcore pieces like the nostalgia-flavored "You Are Free" that displays their heavier and breakdown oriented side, or the mammoth-sized "CAVE CANEM!" breakdown that culminates after a long build-up in the song carrying the same title, which will surely echo in festival tents around the world come next tour.

But despite a few testosterone-laden tracks spliced in between, the vast majority of material on "True View" is lush with majestic melodies and chant-along choruses. While the change may piss off some of their truest hardcore fans, I'm inclined towards the opposite and argue that "True View" might be their best album yet. The melodies are simply too big to be ignored, this is the release that will push the band to the next stage in their career. Not a single bad track on this record, rock solid throughout.

8

Download: Married To The Noise, Cave Canem, Delinelle, Doomed By You
For the fans of: Comeback Kid, The Ghost Inside,
Listen: Facebook

Release date 13.10.2017
Pure Noise Records

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