Hardcore outfit Stray From The Path are out promoting their new album Anonymous, which is their fourth Sumerian release, and seventh release in total.
The Long Island quartet have been slogging away in the New York scene since 2001 so it’s not surprising that they are a hermetically-sealed unit, excelling in Glassjaw-thrashing, no-holds-barred-riffage complimented by a Rage-influenced politically charged vocal assault, attacking the cochlea region like a juggernaut sans-sandwich.
In summation, it’s a full on assault from the intermittently phlegming vocalist Andrew “Drew York” Dijorio, who skillfully alternates between rhythmically grooved, hip-hop-friendly throat talents of Rage Against The Machine’s Zack De la Rocha chanting “you can try it, but I won’t go quiet, in the back of a cop car” and Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley.
The new material is standout here with tracks such as ‘Badge and a Bullet’, ‘Scissor Hands’ and ‘Radio’ kicking up a real fuss in the circle pit, with the heavy breakdowns creating prototypically inductive hive-instincts akin to a thick torpedo pneumatically shifting up-and-down, guffawing up a dense air of spilled alcohol, bile and sweat.
Justin Manus (already a competent beat maestro) creates a brutally scrappy but deeply heavy core-rotting distortion a la Justin Beck (Glassjaw’s original axe grinder) through his twin cabinet set-up, synonymous with late-90s hardcore guitar monstrosities from the likes of Struggle and Will Haven; yet sustaining an original edge to the brutal single-note-riffage, fast-core runs and Tremelo-esque, high-end descant interludes.
With all the mix of old comes something new and refreshing without sounding like a mish-mashed pastiche of musical histories.
British quintet Architects are back touring Lost Forever // Lost Together, which is essentially a conglomeration of the best elements of Daybreaker and There Here and Now, while going back to the heaviness of Hollow Crown.
It’s that simple really, and the new material is the darkest and angriest the band has sounded hitherto.
Realising the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, is sometimes merely a bitter aftertaste as opposed to a prognostic tool in the creative industry – something the band no doubt felt with the cascading blows from critical and fan reactions to Daybreaker.
It is something of an arbitrary conundrum to many a band who aim to stay fresh, but inadvertently invite criticism and fan reservations for reining in other influences and steering-off current trajectories in changing up the mix slightly.
Perhaps the change was a vent in anger due to the all the workload, four albums in their 20s and sitting on the cusp of comfortability, not quite hitting the level of counterparts such as Letlive and Bring Me The Horizon.
They open to a near sold out ABC with the monolithic ‘Gravedigger’ proving that it not only serves as the best album opener this year, but it also caters to the capacious acoustics of the live environment.
There is a rejuvenated performance to the new tracks that hasn’t been seen since 2009′s Hollow Crown, assembling the Glaswegian troops in a unified atmosphere, playing a mix good mix to cater for fans on both sides of the spectrum and all those in between.
Sam Carter seems genuinely enamored at the response to the new and the old and the band convict with an all-new and refreshing passion.
The whole band have upped the ante on the live circuit with Carter’s vocals sounding better than ever, interchanging from beautifully crafted melodic interludes, to screams that fall back in line with Hollow Crown.
New Tracks ‘Colony Collapse’, ‘The Distant Blue’, ‘The Devil Is Near’ and ‘C.A.N.C.E.R.’ (which, just like Ronseal; pretty much doing what it says on the proverbial tin) are standout tracks that Cthulhu would welcome into his humble dwellings.
Dan Searle and Ali Dean deliver a rhythm section that knocks four six, and axe wielder Tom Searle’s riffage is up there with the 90s behemoth ‘use my third arm, arguably’ Dimebag Darrell’s signature rhythmic displays on Far Beyond Driven.
Their performance tonight is a ruthless exercise in brutality; emotionally charged; epically played with callous conviction; and, more importantly, this could be the tour/album double whammy that can flip this band over the cusp and into a more deserving domain.
Words: Derek Robertson
Photos: Jayjay Robertson
