Vesta Collide

Just in time for Halloween, this week's band of focus is Vesta Collide. This Michigan based metalcore act kind of sounds like if My Chemical Romance and Blessthefall had a baby, so in other words, they're pretty freaking good! These guys haven't been around for a very long time, since 2014 actually according to their Facebook page, and they've already racked up 20,000 likes on Facebook as well as a deal with a major record label, Stay Sick Recordings and are currently making a new album. So far they've only released one full length album that they debuted just this year with their record label and a few singles that they've released over their few years of existence before being signed. They stay pretty consistent in touring and have even just recently toured with Alesana earlier this year. So basically, for a new band that no one had really heard of before this year, I'd say they're starting off really well! In fact, I hadn't even heard of them before a few weeks ago and immediately fell in love and was so excited to get to talk about them here!

The one downside that I see in Vesta Collide is their generic metalcore sound. It sounds as if they're trying to mimic a bunch of the mainstream metalcore acts, but they're still young so I definitely cut them some slack there and just hope they find their niche and find their sound. However, for me anyways, it was nice to listen to something that sounded mainstream but wasn't. They have some daker lyrics than the previous bands I've posted about (hint the reason I'm posting this around Halloween), but they're unique lyrics for the most part that really fit with their sound. They have a few songs that have more positive messages behind them as well. Their vocalists have a great hard hitting scream and beautifully sung clean combination which always makes for good music. Another difference between them and the other bands I've posted (aside from the last post before this one) is their use of synthesizers, they don't go too heavy on them but I feel as if they do an excellent job of using them at appropriate times that makes their tunes even more enjoyable to me.


Moondancer I feel is an appropriate song to keep the spooky theme going for this time of year and is also one of my favorites by them. Enjoy!

Influential Metalcore

So I'm at the halfway mark for my required amount of blog posts, so I figured this is a good time to take a break for this week to talk about something different. As opposed to focusing on just one band, I want to talk about a couple of different bands. These bands are bands that are influential bands to not only myself but many, many other people. Instead of looking at a band that isn't well known, these bands are a little more well known and the first two are very popular today. These bands have influenced many of the youth and adults of the world in the best way possible and hopefully everyone reading will enjoy!

The Amity Affliction

The first band I want to mention is The Amity Affliction. The Amity Affliction is one of the big metalcore giants of Australia, and rightfully so with their incredibly inspirational lyrics. Despite some average instrumentals and generic breakdowns you hear from most of the popular metalcore bands, The Amity Affliction definitely makes up for this in their lyrics which is why I keep finding myself jamming out to them, that and Ahren's vocals are very bone chilling despite being a little auto tuned sounding. My favorite lyrics from them comes from the song Youngbloods. "Youngbloods run free forever, forget the death that's ever nearer. Youngbloods young hearts alike, let the fires burn inside your eyes. We won't give up these memories, and we won't go near those cemeteries." This song is about suicide prevention, which is a very common theme among The Amity's songs and I strongly encourage everyone to check them out especially their older stuff if you haven't!

Beartooth

This next band is a newer band that has found themselves a lot of success in their first few years of activity. Beartooth is a phenomenal band devoted to sending a positive message to everyone going through a rough time. Whether it's social injustice, or just going through a difficult time in life, Beartooth tackles those topics and everything in between. The song I want to talk about is from their debut album from 2013, this song is called Beaten in Lips. To sort of quote the song, this is dedicated to the kids with beaten in lips, or are just beaten in general from parents or anyone in their life. The message behind this song can be used for anyone else that suffers from any kind of domestic violence as well or just anything else that's crappy in your life. "Keep living loud and proud! They never can hold you down!"

In Fear and Faith

Finally there's one more band that I want to talk about in this post, and that's In Fear and Faith. Unlike the other two, In Fear and Faith are on a hiatus and also aren't nearly as well known as the other two, but when they were around, they made a lot of influential music in their earlier days of their career. One of those songs being, The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions. This song is your typical metalcore song with heavy and fast music and of course a good scream vocalist and clean vocalist. What makes this song special though, is that like The Amity Affliction's song from earlier, this is a song dedicated to suicide prevention. Not only that though, it's actually a story of someone wanting to commit suicide and there's two parts to it. The first part is meant to be two people talking about it, and then the second part (the part with the singing and screaming duet) are the thoughts that go through someone's mind when wanting to commit this act with the evil side (screamed parts) and good side (clean parts) of staying. To me, this is such a great and complex song with a very positive message behind that I know has helped many people, including myself even. And if that isn't enough, Craig Owens does some guest vocals on this song and Craig Owens is one of many ultimate baes.



There's so many other great metalcore bands out there that have very influential music but it would take me forever to talk about all of them so I picked the three that have really influenced my life personally and have helped keep me going when I felt like it wasn't worth it. I would talk more about it, but I don't want to get off topic and talk about myself, but for real guys, the reason I wanted to share on this topic is because this music really, really does help save some people so I highly encourage everyone to share some of these bands to anyone that you know that's got some messed up stuff going on in their life because it might just help keep them going. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read and if you already knew about these bands, hopefully you learned something new about them! Tune in next week where I'll return with talking about a new metalcore band to be on the lookout for!

Invent Animate

If you liked ERRA, then you're absolutely going to love Invent Animate! The Texas based progressive metalcore band has released 2 full length albums and one self-released EP since 2012. Their self-released EP found them with quite a nice fanbase and even caught the eye of record label Tragic Hero Records (formerly the record label of ERRA as well so that's another thing these two have in common). Another thing the two have in common is that Jesse Cash not only did some guest vocals for their song Naturehold off of their debut full length album Everchanger, but Jesse also helped produce that album for them so that's pretty cool!

Invent Animate has such a unique sound to them, every metal band has their own unique sound which is what makes this genre so great! Their style really is similar to that of ERRA's in that they have such an ambient and also really heavy sound to them.They have that perfect combination of atmospheric instrumentals with bone chilling cleans as well as djenty and intense breakdowns and the use of low growls and mid screams from vocalist Ben English. If you don't know what I mean by the word "djenty," "djent" is a guitar technique that was started by progressive metal legends Meshuggah that is widely used by many progressive metal bands today. Basically "djent" is just the sound you make the guitar make when you play it, usually in a low pitch, palm muted style. They utilize 7 string guitars and a 5 string bass to utilize this combination of heaviness and also ambient, atmospheric sounds in their strings work.

Just like any progressive metalcore band, Invent Animate is great to listen to whether you're looking to just relax and close your eyes and escape to the music, or to bang your head to, and especially if you're looking to do both. They really do an excellent job of combining these elements together to make what really is a beautiful sound. Expect great things from this young up and coming band!

Here's Nocturne: Lost Faith from their debut full length album Everchanger, which is an excellent example of their ambient and also heavy sound.

In Hearts Wake

Australia is home to A LOT of great metalcore bands, and one of those bands is In Hearts Wake. While they have certainly gotten a lot of views on some of their music videos on YouTube, they still haven't quite hit the commercial success that I strongly feel like they should've hit by now. In Hearts Wake has released 2 EPs, 2 split EPs, and 4 full length albums since 2007. Their first 2 EPs came out in 2007 and 2008 when the band members were still in high school. After a few years, they released their debut album with UNFD record company in 2012 entitled Divination. This was a great debut album for the band that helped put them on the map and even featured a few big name guest vocalists such as Winston McCall, Garret Rapp, and Adrian Fitipaldes.

In Hearts Wake is another band with very influential lyrics. A big common theme for them is environmentalism, they are definitely the most eco friendly band out there. They even went around and got a bunch of fans to join them in cleaning out trash in different areas such as the land and water systems of the cities they were touring in in Australia earlier this year. On top of that though they deal with a lot of social issues as well in their lyrics. The best example and my favorite song by them is their song Healer. "No hate, no fear of anyone. All we need is to live and forgive everyone, everything that holds us back. No hate, no fear of anything." This is such a powerful message that should not go unnoticed by anyone, especially in light of what's all going on in the world right now. As you could guess, this a song that talks about healing us of all the hate in the world.

A combination between great, meaningful lyrics, as well as Jake's powerful screams and Kyle's beautifully sung cleans, In Hearts Wake is a band that I encourage everyone to check out! You can strongly sense an inspiration from fellow Aussie metalcore bands Parkway Drive and Northlane and that is most definitely a good thing! They have that perfect flow of elements from both of those bands in their style, they're hard hitting and heavy just like Parkway Drive, and they slow the tempo down a bit for some songs to chill out to that give the song a Northlane like feel. They even did a split EP with Northlane in 2016 and I strongly encourage you give it a listen, it's only 3 songs so it won't take long to listen! One last note about In Hearts Wake, they'll be in Lawrence with Fit For A King at The Bottleneck on December 15th so I hope to see some of you there!

As talked about earlier, here's Healer off of their 2014 album Earthwalker.

Counterparts

Counterparts are a fitting band to do this post for this week as they have just put out a new album entitled You're Not You Anymore and I highly encourage you to check it out! I'll post a video of one of the singles they released for it! Anyways, Counterparts has a bit of a following thanks to their angsty lyrics perfect for any angsty teen such as myself! They've been around for a while now with their first album coming out in 2010 and have released 4 other albums now since then. After several lineup changes over the years, Counterparts currently consists of Brendan Murphy, vocals, Adrian Lee, rhythm guitar, Blake Hardman, lead guitar and backing vocals, Kyle Brownlee, drums, and Tyler Williams, bass and backing vocals. Brendan is the only original member left of the band.

Counterparts are a band that need to be under your radar if they aren't already. As stated earlier, Counterparts are known for their angsty lyrics. These lyrics deal with a lot of issues in the lives of everyone, especially those that are of personal manner to vocalist Brendan. Abandonment, acceptance, grief, these are just some of the struggles that Counterparts tackles in their lyrics. My favorite line of lyrics from them comes from the song Jumping Ship. "You were the catalyst for your downfall. But where the rest have failed we are bound to succeed. And mark my words as long as we are breathing we will overcome.The integrity that we emanate day-to-day is unparalleled and our efforts will not go unnoticed." This is a song that's about acceptance of who you are and about being who you are and to not let other people influence your personality. This song is their way of saying hey you listening, you're cool the way you are and don't let other people say otherwise. This whole song just gives me chills whenever I listen to it, the inspirational lyrics are enough to help anyone feel better about themselves.

Whether you have a lot of that college angst you need to let out, or you're looking for something inspirational to help you feel better about something going on in your life, then Counterparts has got the perfect music for you!

Music video for Jumping Ship from their 2011 album The Current Will Carry Us

ERRA

Another big upcoming band I want to talk abut that already has a bit of a following thanks to their experience is progressive metalcore act from Birmingham, Alabama known as ERRA. After a few lineup changes over the years, ERRA currently consists of Alex Ballew - drums (far left), J.T. Cavey - vocals (left center), Sean Price - rhythm guitar, and bass (back right), and Jesse Cash - lead guitar, bass, and clean vocals (right center). The name of the band refers to the Akkadian god of war and plague, and a lot of the lyrical themes in their earlier stuff really had to deal with mythology. Their latest album steered away from this theme but instead tackled other issues such as life on the road as a touring band, the process of drifting out of reality as an escape from the world in the form of things like music, etc. ERRA has released 3 EPs and 3 full lengths since 2010. Their first 2 EPs released in 2010 and were both self released, their next 2 albums, Impulse, and Augment, came out in 2011 and 2013 respectively, their next EP, Moments of Clarity came out in 2014, and then their latest album, Drift, came out in 2016. So as you can see they've been a very busy band in their 7 years of activity. Despite being around for this long though, they only have about 150,000 likes on Facebook and their most popular music video has a little under 900,000 views. So they're in about the same boat as Silent Planet where a lot of people know of their existence, but they still haven't had very many headlining tours unfortunately.

Nevertheless, don't let this make you sleep on them because they are excellent song writers with some of the heaviest yet beautiful music I've ever heard. Not to mention Jesse Cash has some of the most beautiful clean vocals I've ever heard. J.T. has great vocals too and it's worth mentioning he's only been with these guys since Drift and before he was with one other band for a short time so this guy has got a bright future with this band. The vocals with these two is an excellent combination and I can't wait to hear more from these guys in the future! Their style of music is one of the best examples of progressive metal, their use of an atmospheric and ambient sound is a key progressive metal element and it really makes for some of the best night time or rainy day music. And this sound has progressed ever since Jesse started using a 7 string guitar as opposed to a 6 string for Drift and Sean has been rocking a 7 string as well ever since Moments of Clarity.

While their older stuff before the addition of J.T. is a bit heavier, Drift is still one heavy album it just seems to focus more on their melodic sound, and Jesse's voice has really matured through the years if you listen to each album, which I highly encourage you do because there is no such thing as a bad ERRA album. These guys are definitely heading in the right direction, they always have been but expect great things from these guys in the future! They've got the perfect music to both bang your head to or just close your eyes and escape in the cool melodic music, whichever you're feeling! On a parting note, ERRA is another band that I've had the pleasure of seeing play in Lawrence and although they were one of the openers and only played 5 songs, it was still an amazing experience and I highly encourage you to check them out live if given the chance! And yes Jesse's voice really does sound just as amazing live as recorded if that helps the encouragement!

Hybrid Earth from their album Augment is their most viewed music video on YouTube and is an excellent example of what this band is about and shows off former vocalist, Garrison Lee. If you aren't a big fan of this music, skip to 2:47 for the best guitar solo you will ever hear in your life, trust me!

And here's Luminesce, which was the first single from their latest album Drift and gives you an example of what they sound like with current vocalist J.T.

Silent Planet

If you were to ask me who the next big breakthrough band is in metalcore, the answer is so simple. It's the Christian headbangers from California known as Silent Planet. The band consists of Garrett Russell - vocals, Thomas Freckleton - bass, keyboards, and clean vocals, Mitchell Stark - guitar, and Alex Camarena - drums. These guys have released 2 EPs, and 2 full lengths since 2012 with their first full length releasing in 2014 and their latest full length released summer of 2016. For being such a young band, these guys have already racked up quite the fan base with close to 200,000 likes on Facebook and their most popular music video has close to 800,000 views. But of course those numbers aren't as big as a lot of metalcore bands, but STILL! It's awesome seeing how many people already support these guys and they are only just getting started! I saw them in Lawrence back in November and it was just so surreal finally getting to see them and next time they make it to Lawrence I hope to see some familiar faces there, trust me guys they put on an amazing show no matter if they're headlining or opening!

Back on track though, as stated before they're a Christian band but trust me you don't have to be Christian to get into them or any other Christian band for that matter! I'm most definitely far from being religious but I love their music so much and they do an excellent job of appealing to everyone no matter their beliefs. For example, each song on their latest album Everything Was Sound has to deal with a different mental illness and they tell of a story in a way. The song Panic Room is about PTSD and tells the story of Garrett's friend who was deployed in Afghanistan and shot a man in the leg to stop him not kill him but the man ended up bleeding out and this friend of Garrett's lives with that horror like so many other people who have seen combat in any way. The song Psychescape is about schizophrenia, Nervosa deals with anorexia, etc. There's a great series of videos where Garrett talks in depth about each song and their meanings so I'll post the link to that series since I imagine you'd actually want to hear it from a member of the band explain it as opposed to me. This isn't their only album where they've done this though, their second EP lastsleep (1944-1946) tells the stories of three different World War 2 survivors and then their first full length The Night God Slept tells various stories through the eyes of female protagonists. For example, XX (City Grave) focuses on sex trafficking that's going on in America, Native Blood is about the history of the Native Americans, etc. Again, I won't get into heavy detail about each song but this gives you an idea how metal lyrics have a deep and personal meaning behind them that speak to everyone, especially Silent Planet's.

To wrap things up about Silent Planet, they're a young and talented band that's definitely going to be skyrocketing further into success in the music business. If you haven't already listened to them and you're a metalcore fan, I highly encourage you to give them a listen especially if you like Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada, Architects, and Oh, Sleeper just a name a few bands that they share a similar sound with. And if you've never listened to metalcore before, Silent Planet is definitely a great start if you're looking for some heavy music with positive and heartfelt lyrics! Stay tuned for some more metalcore bands to be on the lookout for!



From their first full length The Night God Slept, Native Blood is Silent Planet's most viewed music video on YouTube.




And here's Garrett's analysis of the lyrics to Panic Room.