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It takes a special band to navigate the ever-changing waters of modern hardcore music. Fighting off passing fashions and trends and maintaining a course, STICK TO YOUR GUNS have been mainstays in the scene since their inception more than two decades ago. With each release, they have proven that they can stand tall against all newcomers and do what they do best. Write heavy, melodic hardcore that translates to the stage seamlessly.
Since the release of their last effort Spectre back in 2022, the band have moved to SharpTone Records, joining back up with the former president Sumerian Records. The home of the band when they dropped some of their most acclaimed albums (namely The Hope Division, Diamond and Disobedient). And the first impressions of the singles released for new album, Keeping Planting Flowers, are that the band have returned to that rich vein of creativity, performing with a new sense of freedom and creative drive that is so refreshing in this modern era of hardcore.
From the album opener, We All Die Anyway, you get a sense of what the album is all about. A sneering, violent attack of booming drums, heavily distorted guitars and vocalist Jesse Barnett snarling down the microphone. Lyrically, the song is the opposite to what the sonic battery suggests, with Barnett hammering home the dedication that has brought himself and the band to this point in their career. The lyrics to Spineless are far more aggressive. When the main riff kicks in you can’t help but imagine the chaos that will ensue when the band play this live. The vitriol and bile that comes from vocal performance, coupled with the driving guitars give the song a dangerous feel, and by contrast the chorus is one of the most melodic and catchy that the band have ever written.
Permanent Dark is one of the real highlights of the album. A short, vicious hardcore song that gets to the point immediately. The direct approach of the song is underpinned by the punchy, punk riffs and pummelling drums and a chaotic, violent delivery that some may have found a little more lacking on the band’s previous effort Spectre. This is STICK TO YOUR GUNS at their most primal, sounding like a band half their age. Not one who are dropping their eighth full length effort.
The middle of the album shows no sign of the pace slowing with tracks like Severed Forever and More Than A Witness picking up the baton and running at full speed. The former having one of the finest choruses the band have ever penned and a crushingly heavy, brilliantly delivered breakdown, sounding like it could have come from the cutting floor the band’s beloved Diamond album from back in 2012. The latter steps up the pace even more and delivers one of the most energetic tracks on the whole album. This is one that was made for the stage and something that will cause absolute bedlam when they throw it into their set. The chorus once again cuts through the violence and delivers something that can be screamed back emphatically towards the stage when the time comes.
Towards the back end of the album are a couple of real gems, ensuring that the album goes out swinging for the fences. Firstly, we have Who Needs Who. A fifty-four second sonic assault that shows the band straying into almost powerviolence territory with a barrage of blasting drums and high-velocity riffs. It also includes the first of the album’s two guest vocalists in the form of scene legend (and the band’s former manager) Scott Vogel of the legendary TERROR. The fact that this song comes so late in the album is a very welcome surprise and means that as a listener you do not get a chance to even consider boredom. Instead, it keeps you guessing right up until the very end.
The album’s closer H84U is another barnstorming, hard hitting track that sees the band leaning heavily on their early 2000s metalcore sensibilities. The track features the second guest spot on the record in the form of the amazing Connie Sgarbossa from the superb SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY. The result of the addition is staggering with Sgarbossa and a level of chaos and intensity to the vocals that takes things to a whole new level. Her shrill, banshee-like screams intertwine with the emotive lower tones from Barnett perfectly.
It provides the perfect swansong for an album that has shown that not only can STICK TO YOUR GUNS hold their own with the modern era of hardcore/metalcore, but they can now be considered to be front-runners once again. STICK TO YOUR GUNS by name and by nature.
Rating: 8/10
Keep Planting Flowers is out now via SharpTone Records.
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The post ALBUM REVIEW: Keep Planting Flowers – Stick To Your Guns appeared first on Distorted Sound Magazine.
