Review Summary: Erraists.
Earthists. is a metalcore band from Tokyo, Japan, that formed in 2015. Their debut album,
Dreamscape, dropped in 2017, while their original lineup of five members was still intact. I mention this because after one of their guitarists, Yuta, left the band, they underwent a noticeable stylistic change, which may imply that he was the primary songwriter on this album. While Earthists. as of late have resorted to a very aggressive and anthemic style of metalcore,
Dreamscape presents the band doing nearly the opposite, which is playing more technical and upbeat-sounding tunes, in the vein of modern progressive metalcore.
Every song on
Dreamscape aside from the
Magna interlude is written in a similar way, with a standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure. Yui, the vocalist, generally screams verses and sings choruses. Although he has a preference for lows (as most progcore vocalists do), he shows a fair bit of range, and I find his Japanese-accented singing to be endearing. The lyrics, which are entirely in English, frequently discuss topics concerning the Earth.
The strongest aspect of
Dreamscape is the riffs, which are unapologetically technical at every turn, yet still accessible and even pleasant to listen to. In addition to the bass and drums, which always serve as background emphasis to the riffs, Earthists. also frequently use synths, especially in the tone of a harp, to add a majestic feel to their songs. The treble-heavy production compliments these qualities further, as the riffs tend to tickle the higher notes on the fretboard.
While
Dreamscape doesn't bring anything new or exceptional to the field of progressive metalcore, Earthists. takes the pre-established attributes of the genre and performs them to the best of their abilities, with favorable results. I can't go without mentioning the similarities in style that
Dreamscape has to progcore giants Erra's first two albums,
Impulse and
Augment. For anyone who enjoys those albums and longs for more of that particular sound, do not hesitate to check out
Dreamscape. While Earthists. have since decided to move on to a more popular sect of metalcore, I'm thankful for the one little nugget they dropped off for the progcore fans.
