Review By Graeme Wright
Saving Vice have had a turbulent twelve months to the extent that some of their fans were worried that they may not continue. It is always a sign of strength of character when a band manages to grasp all that uncertainty and drag it into the recording studio. The end result is a record that is so great, so mighty and so relevant that there is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the finest releases in the Metalcore/Alternative Metal universe of the last few years. The band operate out of New England in the United States and have built up a devoted following since their inception in 2017. The new record seems destined to attract a whole host of new fans with a collection of songs built on power and aggression that is combined with melody and relevance, which makes this album both immediate and vital.
‘Leap Of Faith’ starts things off with a huge bang. It’s about grabbing opportunity with both hands and staying on the path to succeed in your dreams. It is one of the heaviest tracks on the album and reveals the bands signature style with a brutal bass line and it combines the Deathcore ‘growl’ with beautifully sung lyrics to perfection. My favourite song on the entire record is ‘Haec Est Ars Moriendi’ (which means ‘The Art Of Death’ in Latin), which starts with a whispered introduction which turns into an epic assault on the senses which is all about the acceptance of yourself before submitting to the embrace of death. It’s a classic song which just blew me away and it has been played to death in this house for the last week.
‘Love Language’ features the exquisite female vocal of Jules Walcott and is the kind of song that screams breakthrough track because it should appeal to most Rock music fans regardless of their preferred genre. ‘Cry Wolf’ is almost autobiographical and is a track that puts haters and liars within the music industry on blast, while ‘Blacklisted Beauty’ continues in the same vein, discussing insecure people who try to tear down artists who they deem to have had too much success.
Its combination of a beautifully sung vocal which morphs into a traditional growling middle section is pitch perfect and is everything modern music should be.
The next song ‘Blood Or Wine?’ pummels the listener into submission while ‘The Cabal’ delivers the knockout blow. ‘It Cant Rain All The Time’ is about how an individual stays strong for friends and family who maybe can’t handle the pain as easily as the writer and has an affecting emotional core at its heart. ‘Good Days, Dead Eyes’ is a song about the struggles of an artist and the many distractions on that path. It’s another song that shows this band have a brain in their head and are not afraid to lay their emotions bare to the listener. ‘Trauma Souba’ is a highly aggressive diatribe against certain nameless individuals in the music industry and it is brutal, while ‘Tomorrow’s Too Late’ is a moving song about loss and bravery in the face of extreme adversity and illness.
The final track is ‘The Covenant’ which is a fabulous end to the proceedings and further proof if needed that this band have absolutely nailed the most difficult task in the genre, which is to seamlessly combine anger and empathy. This is a stunning record and while they may beg to differ I’d thoroughly recommend this to anybody who loves the early Asking Alexandria or Bad Wolves records, but are open to a tougher edged twist to the proceedings. This superb piece of work requires your immediate attention.
Band Members:
Tyler Small – Vocalist
Robbie Litchfield – Guitarist
Sam Whelton – Drummer
Track Listing.
1. Leap Of Faith
2. Haec Est Ars Moriendi
3. Love Language
4. Cry, Wolf
5. Blacklisted Beauty
6. Blood Or Wine?
7. The Cabal
8. It Can’t Rain All The Time
9. Good Days, Dead Eyes
10. Trauma Souba
11. Tomorrow’s Too Late
12. The Covenant
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