Band's List Metalcore Epitome Of The Weak A New Shore

What do you get when you mix elements of midwest emo in with progressive metalcore? Epitome of the Weak. Although most of you are probably scoffing at my comparison to emo music and probably want to run for the hills, hold it right there! The emo elements are only prevalent in the vocal melodies of the cleanly sung vocals which are highly reminiscent of The Get Up Kids. Being a fan of The Get Up Kids I'm quite happy with the clean vocals, many metalheads will probably scrutinize them for being whiny and immature, but whatever I've never been bothered by their opinions anyway. Despite not entirely being a fan of “whiny” clean vocals, they can have their moments, A New Shore is one of them, they suit the melodic music perfectly and are really emotional, adding a lot of weight and depth to the album.

I find it really interesting how this band decided to go about playing Djent, mixing vocal melodies reminiscent of midwest emo in with highly melodic music, this band sure is doing something interesting within the scene. Djent can be accused of stagnating, with not enough bands doing something interesting, but Epitome of the Weak are doing a fair bit for the relatively new genre. The vocal melodies are really what sets them apart, they're highly emotional and gentle, surprisingly not feeling incongruous at all with the progressive instrumentation.

Underneath the emo-esque vocals is a backdrop of melodic Djent. Epitome of the Weak opt for a far more rhythm and groove oriented sound akin to Volumes and Vildhjarta instead of opting for all out technicality. There's a lot of melody throwin into the sound as well along with the occasional quieter moment like in Never Forget where the whole song slows down to make way for a beautiful and emotional clean guitar lead. The heavier sections of A New Shore are also melodic, there's hardly any balls out heaviness featured on here, opting for a far more melodic and atmospheric sound than the usual Djent sound. The riffs are fairly complex, highly melodic and enjoyable, there's a lot of metalcore and progressive influence in them to boot. The music as a result is easy listening and accessible, there's no elements of skull crushing heaviness and the sound remains melodic throughout, even the odd breakdown isn't that heavy, take the breakdown in This Dying Breath, it manages to keep in context with the gentle and emotional theme of the overall song by not being as thuggish and moronic as Emmure or Suicide Silence, although I usually hate breakdowns with a passion they're pulled off quite well in this album. They compliment the music nicely which is a good change and they never feel out of place, always being used in the right moments to just add that little bit more to the music. The harsh vocals are highly metalcore-esque, they may not be the most technically impressive vocals ever recorded but they serve the music just fine. They work well wit the sensitive and gentle clean vocals, creating a nice juxtaposition between the two vocal styles.
Epitome of the Weak have succeeded in creating a fresh and interesting Djent sound with elements of emo thrown in for good measure, the last track in particular feels like a fully fledged emo song with subtle acoustics and sensitive vocals. Obviously many metalheads will be apalled by this as it represents a fusion of styles that they criticise left, right and centre. However me being a sucker for music that breaks conventions, I found A New Shore highly enjoyable, although A New Shore will definitely not be for everyone I recommend giving it a chance and seeing what it has to offer.