Impressive first release from this top band
It's not very often a band comes along with their first release and it exudes the kind of maturity you'd expect from a band which has been on the circuit for some time. Upbringing from Atlases however does just that. This six track EP houses a young and hungry band with brilliantly tight musicianship. Atlases show the kind of maturity musically on this release which bands like Bring Me The Horizon have only just been able to grasp. They've done so as well by following a relatively simple formula, bringing bone crunching riffs, well executed breakdowns and powerfully emotive vocals across all six tracks.
This is very much a hardcore/metal EP, so pretty much we all know the score here right? Opening track Betrayer confirms this. The riffs are bouncy making this sound like it would be a killer track live. The actual guitar tone sounds perfect, the riffs sound clean yet feel dirty and groove fuelled, engineered towards the massive ending. A top track to open the EP and probably the main highlight. Tracks like My Testament and The Deeper Dark continue on in the same vein before the final track on Upbringing slightly raises the level again. Consume Deny just sounds like it would be crushing live.
Fans of the genre will be all over this like a rash; big riffs, big breakdowns, everything just generally sounding big. Being that it is only an EP, the band have done the right thing in bringing the heavy tunes, but they may have left themselves open to criticisms around sounding a bit samey. Once you've heard three tracks on here you've kind of heard them all. But as noted, with it being an EP this makes sense for now. They've clearly thrown their heavy hitters on there to shape an impression, going forward you'd hope they will develop further because they are clearly a talented bunch of young musicians. Keep your eye out for these on the live scene.