Band: Envy The Fallen
Release: Hoist The Colours (EP)
Newquay is a strange place, amazing coastline and relaxed wave riders that collide head on with beer soaked stag do’s and croc wearing holiday makers. It is certainly not known for breeding fresh, premium quality metal. Yet against this bizarre backdrop Envy The Fallen have managed to put together six tracks that put ‘Cornish Metal’ firmly on the map.
Envy have been playing fierce live shows for a few years now, but have been keeping their cards close to their chests when it came to releasing their own material. Well, from the opening chords of first track ‘The Brave One’ it is quickly apparent that all the waiting has been worthwhile, huge riffs slap you straight in face while a thick layer of kick drums that put the boot in.
Their sound takes modern metal with a double shot of hardcore and mixes in extra strength melodic choruses, it’s the kind of brew Parkway Drive and The Ghost Inside fans will instantly leap up and throw down to. The band have clearly spent some serious time getting the production spot on and it’s on a par with anything big name US bands have been unleashing of late; tight blazing riffs and clear roaring vocals while the relentless drums sit nice and high in the mix throughout.
The EP is unrelenting, pausing only for huge gang chant choruses and a quick blazing solo or two. There’s definitely no filler here, but stand out tracks include ‘Until Lambs Become Lions‘, with its rising vocals and vicious breakdowns, while title track ‘Hoist The Colours’ welds savage technical riffs to massive pit pleasing melodic parts. Final track ‘Endings‘ is a real treat with its intense vocals and guitars that build into a piano driven conclusion, an unexpected yet welcome surprise.
This is a truly impressive statement of intent that puts ‘Envy The Fallen‘ up there with the best new UK metal bands and raises the bar for fellow South West thrashers. Catch them destroying venues around the South West this summer or even better check out http://www.facebook.com/envythefallen and believe the hype.
Reviewer: Andrew Ford
Photo Credit: Andrew Ford
