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Review Summary: Although "Between You & I" doesn’t bring anything new to the scene, it’s pretty fair to assume it will still appeal to most of the genre’s devotees. Trace Your Steps is a new 5-piece Metalcore outfit hailing from Long Island, New York. Simply put, they play Metalcore, with some (Post-) Hardcore/Deathcore nuances. Between You & I stands as an assortment of a lot of things Metalcore bands have done well in the past few years, without fully compromising the band’s individuality, but still making you remember this is far from inventive.
So let’s begin with the execution – Between You & I is fairly well done. No matter how deep your look into this EP, you won’t find much more to say about it. The riffs are accessible and catchy, there’s some occasional fancy guitar layering, some mono-chords here and there, and that’s pretty much it. The drums are competent and sound quite good in the mix, and the bass is ever present but never a highlight. Like any other Metalcore album released in the last 6/7 years, it has quite a few breakdowns. Nothing too fancy, but very enjoyable. It’s in the vocals department though, where Trace Your Steps display something rather interesting. The growls sound in a mid–high range, or even screamed words (as heard in Forgiveness), what you commonly find in Hardcore/Metalcore bands. Nothing new there, that’s right, but the execution itself is outstanding. One could say it stands reminiscent of what Northlane’s Adam Fitipaldes masterfully accomplishes. To be honest, the whole band sounds quite similar to Northlane at times. Moving on, clean singing is somewhat abundant and the band firmly insists in its use. While slightly overused, it’s not overproduced and actually sounds good. One good example of thoughtful use of clean vocals would be in Reckoning. The only problem here is how perceptive the lyrics get at some point. In this case that’s clearly a problem, since they seem to lack some maturity, and are also not that well written. The most unfortunate and matchless example of that, comes within Sleeper.
Technicalities aside, Between You & I ends up flowing pretty well. Another thing I find worth of a mention - Although the band doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, they do not repeat upon themselves. There are moments in each track that help you to tell them apart without much trouble. That’s clear evidence on how the band tries to embrace some dynamism, and well, it makes the whole thing come together slightly better.
Between You & I does display some moments that well deserve a highlight. You have the hard hitting In Perspective which opens the album with substance and purpose, flowing steadily and dropping a gorgeous breakdown just halfway through. Also, great input from the clean vocals in a pretty cleverly structured chorus. Forgiveness is one good all rounder, giving the listener a good idea of the band’s Hardcore roots. There’s one song though, that excels at making a statement. Reckoning is their ultimate effort in pretty much every way. The guitars complement each other well, the vocals are strong and deep too. All in all, this is one outstanding track, with a catchy chorus and a breakdown that left me pleading for more. It also wraps up the 22 minutes of Metalcore done right ; ending in over one minute of lead guitars sounding by themselves with some eerie ambiance supporting them. A smooth, classy (and classic) way to go out.
As before stated, Trace Your Steps didn’t come up with anything new or unique, but instead focused on delivering their thoughtful approach on a genre plagued by innumerous acts that trend on delivering senseless breakdowns and whinny clean singed choruses. Between You & I feels fairly planned out most of the time. It loses with its simplicity, and perhaps with the fact that their brand of Metal demands a little more effort in order to create some actual impact. As far as a debut EP by an unsigned band goes, this has some rather interesting ideas, is well produced and leaves room for wondering what could be their next step.
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Check out Climates
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Lol ok, i screwed up. This review was intended to go for the EP one, the one with the image, the only one that's not screwed but i ended up fucking it and its fucked. Im seriously sleepy right now, its like 4 am here so i wont be battling with this any further. Anyone willing to help out with this, would be greatly and vastly appreciated.
Band's pretty decent, but i wouldn't go as far as recommending it to anyone who's not into Metalcore.
Any constructive criticism will be very welcome. Anything that might not make much sense, please, do refer.
Here's the EP's best track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtyH9GuZcQA
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This is in the database 4 times lol
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Yes i know, it was one heck of a mess i made here, im not even sure i mistakenly made 4 of those, but this is just wack.
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I told the meds
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Oh, thank you. I'll be going now.
Will check Climates, seems promising enough.
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Thanks meds
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Good review ok band
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Unfortunately it would seem the unique blend of high and low inhales, singing, and brutally articulated instrumentals is just slightly above your head since you to feel that this band did not bring anything new to the scene when, in actuality, they did. In fact, I would argue that this EP raises that bar for that scene, where as now senseless screams and repetitious beat will no longer suffice. In other words, not only are the vocals creative, the instrumental technical and non-repetitive, but their lyrics are poetic, insightful, and convey a deeper meaning, beyond a primitive anger or what have you. Their vocals, be it singing or screaming, only enhances their musical message, which is perfectly harmonized with their beats. Each song is different to an extent, and complex, bringing fourth more than just one emotion. Their music is like a grand story being told, something I have yet to experience in the metalcore scene for some time now. Rather than deciding for someone to what extent they should enjoy Trace Your Steps, I would suggest going to their Facebook page and deciding for oneself if this band is truly something else. For me, they most definitely are noteworthy, and they have easily become one of my most favorite bands. I look forward to whatever new creations they produce. Go Trace Your Steps!
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
"Rather than deciding for someone to what extent they should enjoy Trace Your Steps, I would suggest
going to their Facebook page and deciding for oneself if this band is truly something else."
When i review something im not trying to tell people what to think about that band. That comes with
reliability, its my unbiased opinion and you will either agree with me, or not. You only have to
decide either to give it a shot or not, based in my credibility or your curiosity and will. And i do
believe my opinion is quite impartial tbch. Also, going to their facebook wouldn't change a thing,
im reviewing music here, not "likes" or comments.
You shouldn't neg me because you don't agree with me, you're suppose to judge me by how well i have
written the review. No problemo though, i will thank you for your input and say that you made your
point well, even though i absolutely disagree with you. But that's another story.
Welcome to the website friend.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Thanks for the welcome.
My bad...you wrote "Any constructive criticism will be very welcome. Anything that might not make much sense, please, do refer," which is all I was doing. I guess I didn't make it clear; I didn't like your review because you failed to support your statements...so I felt compelled to give my input as well.
The reason I said to check out their facebook, note I said check out, not go like it, is because they have their music on their page. I failed to see your post of the link to dl their EP, my bad. They also have a live video, you should maybe check out because half the time a great band becomes dissapointing live and vice versa.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
I went on listening to this EP for like 3 days in a row, almost nonstop. I wouldn't review anything and i dont think i know quite well.
Again, i reviewed the EP, it has nothing to do with how well they perform on stage. Another thing, this is a review, no reviewer wants to impose his/her opinion when he/she writes, you're taking it all the wrong way dude. This is MY view on it, i wrote it in the most impartial way i could.
You also pointed out things that i have actually spoke of in the review, about the vocals that is.
And man i dont know who you are, but im pretty inclined towards saying you play in this band or are somehow affiliated with them. lol
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
"Unfortunately it would seem the unique blend of high and low inhales, singing, and brutally
articulated instrumentals is just slightly above your head since you to feel that this band did not
bring anything new to the scene when, in actuality, they did."
What inhales? Brutally articulated instrumentals? There are so many things wrong with that sentence
alone. Have you ever even listened to... Any other Metalcore band??
"I would argue that this EP raises that bar for that scene, where as now senseless screams and
repetitious beat will no longer suffice."
Hum, absolutely not.
"but their lyrics are poetic, insightful, and convey a deeper meaning, beyond a primitive anger or
what have you."
.....Seriously?
Dont mean to wrestle you over this, but dude, now that i read it better, no. Seriously.
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Well written, pos. My band recorded in the same studio a few months before them, cool dudes for sure, not big on their music.
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"The growls sound in a mid – high range, or even screamed words (as heard in Forgiveness)"
-mid-high or mid/high
-I think it's standard to use quotation marks instead of italics for songs. Italics is for albums.
"clean singing is somewhat abundant and the band firmly insists in its’ use."
-its
"The only problem here is how perceptive the lyrics get at some point."
-?
Got bored. Re-read the whole thing.
EDIT: Lol I should check the date before commenting.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Thanks Wogger. I dont think you pos'd though haha
And hey, do share about your band!
Asdfp, mate thank you very much for your pointers. I'm from Portugal and the " its' " thing i recall learning at school actually and well, somebody taught me wrong it seems. Been using it that way ever since lol.
About the italic/quotation marks, you must be right on that one too. I've done quite a few reviews now using this kind type of writing, i guess i'll be changing that in all of my reviews when i have the time.
"The only problem here is how perceptive the lyrics get at some point."
Exactly. It's a good thing to be able to understand the lyrics. But in this case particularly,the lyrics are something the band didn't do well and should go by unnoticed. Is the question itself not well formulated?
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Ya I'm still very new to the site, I just assumed pos'd was a short term for great review haha. I would love to share, (and I know this is cheesy, but were actually called Within Our Gates, hence the Wogger). We play melo-prog-core, but really just metalcore.
Here is the album we recorded
http://withinourgatesva.bandcamp.com/album/kingdom-of-mind
Here is the music video for the single
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIz0BTWxNKc
Would really like some input. If you even like it well enough I would really appreciate a review. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/soundoff.php?albumid=119029
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Oh ya just got the whole pos'd thing, gave you the pos.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Thank you mate.
And great project you got there. Seriously. We'll talk about it further on!
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