156/Silence
People Watching


4.1
excellent

Review

by Tyler White STAFF
September 17th, 2024 | 55 replies


Release Date: 09/13/2024 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Chaotic and fulfilling

156/Silence have finally done it. Throughout their career, they’ve done a great job at being just interesting enough in the hardcore/metalcore scene. In their last two releases, Irrational Pull and Narrative established themselves as a band with a ton of potential, just waiting to be released. WIth People Watching, 156/Silence finally leans into every bit of their strengths. “Change Agent” and “Terms and Condition” are the most reminiscent of their past material, filled with intense breakdowns and unrelenting pacing. The opening one-two punch of “Character Development (Cold Start)” and “Target Acquired” goes deeper into the bands more recent metalcore tendencies with bouncy riffs and pummeling drum grooves. However, the middle section of the album shows the band taking new steps in their sound. Tracks like “Product Placement” and “Funeral Arrangements” experiment with soaring vocal passages that give a captivating contrast between brutal verses/breakdowns and clean, melodic choruses, while others like “Blood Loss” lean into eerie atmosphere building, with nearly spoken word vocals and a manically intense feature from Carson Pace of The Callous Daoboys. While this may not be a perfect metal record, sometimes lacking in pacing and songwriting variety, People Watching is the best 156/Silence record to date, and one that finally shows the true potential this band has to offer.



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user ratings (85)
3.5
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
tyman128
Staff Reviewer
September 17th 2024


4596 Comments

Album Rating: 4.1

Just had to get a quick review out there for this album, it's been on repeat for me

Super fun tracks here, and very impressed with their more melodic approach

artificialbox
Contributing Reviewer
September 17th 2024


2561 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Yesss nice one tyman! Gave this one listen earlier today and it ruled, gotta give it another spin tonight. Feels like it's been a few months since a really good metalcore album came along.

YoYoMancuso
Staff Reviewer
September 17th 2024


19289 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

i gotta be honest, sometimes it is an insurmountable task to not judge an album by its cover

artificialbox
Contributing Reviewer
September 17th 2024


2561 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

lol true

Gyromania
September 17th 2024


37432 Comments


Was rly hoping this would be some kind of dark ambient after seeing that album art

tyman128
Staff Reviewer
September 17th 2024


4596 Comments

Album Rating: 4.1

Yeah, pretty fun looking down at the album art while it's playing

Slex
September 17th 2024


17236 Comments


Excited to check this, I love their debut but wasn't crazy about the last one

Confessed2005
September 17th 2024


5987 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

This is one of the better metalcore records I've heard in recent years. Great stuff.

nipplehair
September 17th 2024


97 Comments


By far my favorite album this year. My only complaint is I think it's a tad too long. Could have some fat trimmed off

DJD1ed
September 17th 2024


180 Comments


I thought this was a new Aphex Twin album at first.

Manatea
Staff Reviewer
September 17th 2024


2062 Comments

Album Rating: 4.3 | Sound Off

Album rips. Great rev my guy

memnite
September 17th 2024


124 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

excellent, concise review. album slays - def gonna be jamming at the gym for the foreseeable future

metalprofiteer
September 17th 2024


55 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

They went a lot softer on this album. Still good, but a lot softer.

artificialbox
Contributing Reviewer
September 17th 2024


2561 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

something about the guitar tone and vocals are giving me big ~2010 vibes but like in a really good way.

rc239
September 17th 2024


416 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

big errorzone vibes here minus the drum and bass

bloc
September 17th 2024


70679 Comments


I thought this was ok. Forgot about it immediately after it finished.

Feather
September 17th 2024


10466 Comments


Idk why the cover of this and band name are so familiar, must have checked out a single from these guys at some point. Excited to check this out.

Scoot
September 17th 2024


22610 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

doesn't come close to errorzone but it's fun

JayEnder
September 17th 2024


21020 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Album goes hard. Far too lengthy tho

artificialbox
Contributing Reviewer
September 17th 2024


2561 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

im like the last person to complain about cleans in metal but I could probably do without “Product Placement”. dude sounds like a squeaky lil mouse.



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