Review Summary: A great beginning to a stellar band; the difference between their two releases mark the maturation they achieved after the recording of this ep though.
Evita is a band that broke up too soon, left a great full-length in their wake, and a so-so ep. Favoring a deathcore style of music for this release, it is evident that they took many tricks from the bag that was already exclusive for young bands of the genre to embrace. Their mistakes on "Like An Ocean, We Rise Again" can be attributed, in large part, to their inexperience.
I will say that the musicianship on this record is very promising, the guitars chug along and the drums are always tight and technical. There is one major pitfall, however; there are too many breakdowns. The formulaic method that every song seems to just be a prelude to another uninteresting breakdown has long become tired and predictable. While one can tell that the music is being played by extremely talented musicians, you can tell that the genre tag is being applied in a very big way.
The vocals in this ep are incredibly epic. The range that he has runs the gambit, from blood-curdling highs to visceral lows. Many vocalists in this type of music do not generally have a good sense of when to switch back and forth between the types of screams, but he switches to and from very adeptly. There is also a very nice gang chorus halfway through the song "Mercy Across Your Face" that is very energetic. There is also an emergence every now and then of clean vocals. While they are not of incredible caliber, they provide a great contrast to the brutal vocals that dominate this release. Even with all of the praise that I have for the vocals, I will say there was one huge problem that was hard for me to get around; the pig squeals. They just did not fit with the music, and were nothing but a detriment to the overall songs.
Evita was an extremely talented band, and this release is a good start for them. It is worth checking out if you enjoy their full-length release, Minutes and Miles.
