Review Summary: Victims Of Circumstance is a strong, talent infused debut release.
The Intake Of Glass is a 5-piece Metalcore band hailing from Cambridge, Ontario.
Victims Of Circumstance, is their first release.
First track I heard off
Victims Of Circumstance was
Revelations, being immediately blown away. For further examination, I went somewhere into the deepest corners of the Internet to find more about this band. The hours that proceeded made clear to me that I wasn’t before the average Metalcore act that we all got used to a while ago.
It starts off strong with
The Fallacy, a great track that pretty much says everything about The Intake Of Glass. Metalcore. That is, indeed, the first thing that comes to mind when track one begins. And by the end of it, I’m positive you will percept the same. And so does the same apply to the whole EP. But I assure you this one thing:
Victims Of Circumstance is by no means just another dumb down Metalcore breakdown fest.
First off, and again,
The Fallacy brings us the whole (let’s say) formula that makes The Intake Of Glass worthy of acceptance: hasty, refined riffs with a good deal of melody and remarkable technical work at times, simple but wonderfully accurate drum patterns played by a much talented young drummer, well executed vocals ranging from low to medium pitch or simple screams, and one of the best displays of clean singing the Metalcore scene has to offer. All this wrapped in a high production value foil makes
Victims of Circumstance a treat for any Metalcore enthusiast. The album flows with a steady pace, and not many risks are taken. Between the dozens of transitions, it’s not always easy to keep fully concentrated, but ironically and still, it is the track with more of said transitions that grasps your attention with higher proficiency. Coming as a somewhat perfect half way track on this EP,
Writing On The Walls is a great team effort, and if anyone hadn’t noticed something that obvious by now, it is clear that August Burns Red are easily one major influence over The Intake Of Glass. Hell, the majority of the EP feels like straight out of something ABR could have released around 2006 or so. Other than that, the musicianship of the band doesn’t get such a hard knock in terms of freshness. Two songs that doesn’t help to assent the content of the last sentence are
Imprisioned and
Like Seasons, which come as the two most average stricken tracks, with insipid guitars ruling most of the time, and easy to perceive song structures. Not to speak of the rather painful extent of
Like Seasons, in which the whole album seems to build up for a quick nap… Build up for a nap? Well yes, I recon you get it. Now, despite those said tracks there’s a far bigger package of memorable moments throughout
Victims Of Circumstance.
Sleepwalking, a track that feels natural in every way, with a good flow in breakdowns, great guitar work and an amazing chorus (pretty much like
The Fallacy).
Up In Arms is a good track itself, and feels right enough as a solidifier. It’s also fair to mention the breakdown by the second half of said track – Good, very good stuff.
Revelations. One does not simply disapprove of this Metalcore work of art. Since the very beginning, this is by no means an ordinary track – It comes as raw as they get, with the best technical contributions from both chords and drum departments, with a progressive (and ever so melodic) feel like no other song present in the EP. And yet another gorgeous chorus, with those beautiful, beautiful monochords.
Victims Of Circumstance is over, and you are left wondering how far these guys can go. I was.
Overall,
Victims Of Circumstance is attractive, dynamic, solid and most of the time just a pure pleasure to lay your ears on. If any setbacks can be discriminated, it’s the almost void fact that they slow down quite a bit by the second half, something that might toss the full experience downhill for some listeners. Regardless of scrutiny, The Intake Of Glass are one of the most talented group of young people to struggle their way into the Metalcore scene for many years. To lay the cards on the table, The Intake Of Glass practice what we could call an overdone wave of Melodic Metalcore, one that seems to have been overshadowed by Post-Hardcore (hope you’re still with me on this one) in the last few years. Still, they can still make it sound fresh, upfront and find a way to reward us with some technical subtleties. The Intake Of Glass may well be the future of their dying breed.
