|
| |
|
|
|
Review Summary: Erra drift away to calmer shores. Nearly five years ago, I wrote a little piece for a young band that blew away my expectations. Looking back, it really feels like I got to literally hear and vicariously celebrate the success of a friend realizing all their latent potential. Birmingham, Alabama's Erra have grown leaps and bounds from Andromeda to flourish from a catchy distillation of progressive metalcore's best elements to an influential group in its own right.
Drift is Erra at their radio-friendliest. For better or worse, the feral heaviness that carried some of their past songs ("Seven", "Alpha Seed", "Hybrid Earth", "Warrior") is largely absent from Drift. As one would expect, Jesse's now-familiar earworming guitarwork continues to carry wave after wave of riff, melody, and solo at every turn. The new addition of JT's screams are perhaps less oppressively powerful and slightly more one-dimensional than that of his predecessors, but perhaps thall wasn't what the situation called for anyway.
That's not to say Drift is bubbly and saccharine; Erra are still steeped in progressive metalcore to their foundations, but carve themselves a slice of that hot post-hardcore revival pie that has hype for the return of genre juggernauts like Saosin so heavily anticipated.
Jesse's presence is certainly the most tangible on the album, with a healthy portion of the Anthony Green worship (that realistically we're all feeling these days) featured on his Ghost Atlas solo project. However, with the departure of so many founding members, it's easy to imagine how something like this would come about - newcomers never really want to stir the pot up too much, especially in the case of what's more or less a formula for success.
Where in the past, Erra's discography was more or less defined by an economy of extremes, melodies and ambience forever at odds with breakdowns and overpowering guttural vocals, Drift nearly over-features Jesse's trademark virtuosity.
In fact, much of the decidedly less chuggy atmosphere surrounding Drift can be attributed to the squeaky clean production value, with even heavier songs feeling vaguely reminiscent of Northlane's sound.
While some fans are sure to bemoan the loss of 'CHILDREN OF ANU'-era fist-beater tracks, Drift's melody dominant style is top-notch in its execution, and the songwriting is substantively on par with their previous releases, albeit with more choruses and less mythology. Rest assured, other classic Erra themes are still here, with the lead-off single Luminesce being a worthy spiritual successor to Augment's "Pulse," and "Safehaven" as much an ode to muse as "Ultraviolet" ever was.
Overall, Drift sees Erra announcing their candidacy for king of a new generation of metalcore bands; a release to celebrate their coming of age as a true and multi-dimensional force to be reckoned with. Like it or not, they're kicking down the walls of the chug-meets-riff pigeonhole to build an empire from the ruins.
Recommended Tracks:
Luminesce, Hourglass, Continuum, Safehaven, The Hypnotist
| other reviews of this album |
|
Album Rating: 3.5
Blah blah blah punsomniac review is ebola-digs
junz m/
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
by far their worst, barely scrapes 'good' but the hypnotist is a great track, JT does pretty well but not nearly as well as garrison
jesse really tries to hold on to the spotlight whenever he can, really missing alan's riffs too
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
ugh, such a humongous step down from Impulse, Augment, and even Moments of Clarity. Biggest problem for me is JT's vocals. I like Erra with deeper growls, not the mid-range stuff he does. And I usually don't mind Jesse's cleans but here they just go in one ear and out the other for me.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
After reading what others have been saying, I am hesitant about listening to the album. Their EP was a step in the wrong direction in my eyes. Kept with more of the same and having Ian's lack of range was a real issue. What I've heard from JT hasn't really impressed me either and letting Jesse be the main focus on this album just doesn't feel right. Going to listen to it with as open of a mind as I can. Garrison and Alan's presence sounds like it has never been more missed
| | | Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
this is a disappointment notwithstanding The Hypnotist.
| | |
"friend realizing their all their latent potential" - extra "their" that needs to be deleted?
" For better or worse, the chuggy feral heaviness that carried some of their past songs ("Seven", "Alpha Seed", "Hybrid Earth", "Warrior")." - a sentence that ends before it should finish?
" but carve themselves a slice that hot post-hardcore revival " - *of that
"their candidacy for king of metalcore up-and-comers;" - not really up and comers anymore seeming as theyre signed to Sumerian and pretty popular but fair enough
| | |
" For better or worse, the chuggy feral heaviness that carried some of their past songs ("Seven", "Alpha Seed", "Hybrid Earth", "Warrior") "
Please fix this it hurts my head.
Anyway... This album kinda sucks. JT still isn't filling the void that Garrison left. He's solid for sure but he doesn't come close to Garrison. So what we got is too much Jesse, and I say that as someone who likes his voice, not enough riffing, and an underwhelming vocal performance. Jesse writes great leads, always has, but the actual riffs that Alan wrote were a HUGE part of this band's identity and their absence is really felt here.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Oh, yeah sorry I totally wrote this after a few beers right before bed, and didn't really edit much.
Thanks for catching those mistakes, guys!
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
I'm appalled at how lifeless and dull the production on this album is.
| | |
..."but carve themselves a slice of that hot post-hardcore revival pie that has hype for the return of genre juggernauts like Saosin so heavily anticipated."
This sentence reads very awkwardly. I'd suggest rewording it or breaking it in two so that it's a little more clear to your readers.
Love the album cover on this. Might check it out, given I've never heard any of ERRA's other stuff. I won't be bogged down by what they "used to be" and can appreciate this without bias... if it is appreciable.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I'll definitely edit more when I get some time.
Drift is definitely their most accessible, especially to people who aren't particularly drawn to djenty, progressive metalcore.
Check out Luminesce and Safehaven. Maybe The Hypnotist if you don't mind hectic, heavy-ish stuff.
| | |
Never understood this band. I swear every single song they have written has been written by someone else to a better degree. I have nothing against djent, but this is unoriginal and flat even by the genre's massively plagiarised standards.
EDIT: Why is Augment sitting on the same rating as Absent Light by Misery Signals? It isn't even a competition; MS destroy Erra on every level.
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
Its amazing how they still sound like Erra after the lineup changes. However Jesse's cleans are starting to get less tolerable. Sleeper and The Hypnotist sound like classic Erra though
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Just gave this a listen. Alan's presence is very missed, no interesting leads in that department. Too much of Jesse on this album and JT just isn't doing it for me. Ian was okay because of those meaty growls, but JT just doesn't have the range (or doesn't show it) compared to Garrison. Both vocalists are missed here. This just didn't do it for, very disappointed with this release
| | |
I think this album was pretty good. I absolutely loved the guitars on this album. I do think, however that Jesse puts his vocals in at points that it would be better if he wasn't there. JT is forceful, but has a very limited range. Also, the lyrics are, at points, are just stupid.
Good review and I agree with the rating.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
jesse should keep his lead presence in ghost atlas, hes good there
dude doesnt need to sing 75 percent of every song here too
| | |
Just could not get into this. Seems like songs would pass me by and I wouldn't even know when one started and one ended.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Fair enough, bloc
I've definitely been on a post-hardcore kick lately, taking trips down memory lane to visit old Saosin and Circa Survive records.
For me, if I listen to this as a record in a vacuum, without thinking about Impulse and Augment, or Erra's older sound, it's fun and catchy with a couple standout tracks.
That being said, it definitely sounds more post-metalcore than technical and heavy metalcore like they used to. So really, if I treat it on its own, not expecting something like Seven or Ultraviolet to be on there, I might even be tempted to give it a 4, but not as barely-core metal.
| | |
Yeah good point, Win. This just reminds me TOO much of the path Elitist took in terms of quality.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Haha its the lineup changes, man, just like we talked about that other day lol
But yeah I definitely get what you're saying. But to play devil's advocate with that line of reasoning, it's not like the songwriting totally nosedived in quality - I'd blame a good portion of the different vibes on the production value and those goddamn palm mutey 'wee-wee-wee's, I don't even know what to call em but holy shit are they not my cup of tea haha
| | | |
|
| |
