Review Summary: These Foreign Hands feel familiar.
Metalcore as a genre has been in a strange spot for a while now. For every band that follows the new trendy sound of the year, another gets lost to the call of formulaic generic slop that will get them played on Octane Radio. More and more new bands that pop up are all starting to sound the same, as if they’ve asked an AI to write them 10 tracks for a quick cash grab with no effort wasted and call it a day. That’s why it’s such a sigh of relief when a band like Foreign Hands enters the picture. They won’t be content with taking it easy on you; the very opening seconds of “Resetting the Senses” are played with such vigorous ferocity reminiscent of the late 90s and early 2000s, which nowadays is a much-needed breath of fresh air. They are here to get your heart pumping over the course of this 33-minute sonic assault, one that will leave you scrambling to press play again as soon as it’s over.
If there was one word to describe the sound of Foreign Hands, it would be nostalgic. Their love of bands such as Poison the Well and Hopesfall shine through strongly in their music no matter where you are in the tracklist. As easy as it is to point out who their influences are, it wouldn’t be fair to say they have no identity or talent of their own. The vicious high-pitched screams from frontman Tyler Norris cut through the music like a knife, pairing nicely with guitarist Jack Beaton’s singing throughout. Album highlight “Conditioned for a Head-On Collision” shows them trading off parts seamlessly, encapsulating how perfectly they complement each other. The dual guitar tandem of the aforementioned Jack as well as Gill Gonzalez also cannot be praised enough; their assortment of aggressive palm-muted chugs, riffs, and leads will have you headbanging at almost every second. Bassist Chuck Minix throws down tasteful bass thumping action on tracks “God Under Fingernails” and “Shapeless in the Dark”, the latter starting off with an eerie bass riff under haunting lead work that gets you in the mood to enjoy the explosively cathartic final half of the song. Drummer Tyler Washington rounds out the crew as he bangs, crashes, and fills his way through with expert precision. He is the perfect backbone for the band, lending what sounds like a veteran instinct that allows every other member around him to thrive as much as they can.
While the members themselves carry the weight of the record, it’s not without some help from some titans of the genre. Even though Olli Appleyard of Static Dress is still a relatively young member of the core scene, he’s been firmly cementing his place as one of the top names to keep your eyes on. He provides his powerful screams and singing to the previously mentioned highlight “Conditioned…”, elevating what was already a great song into an immaculate song with a grandiose final chorus. Penultimate track “Until the Sun Fades” features Matt Mixon, famous for his work with 7 Angels 7 Plagues as well as several guest vocal spots with Misery Signals, sounding just as great as he did over two decades ago. Everybody on this record sounds great, and a lot of it is thanks to producer Will Putney. Putney has become synonymous with the term “hit or miss” regarding his production jobs, and thankfully this one is a huge hit. He supplies them with much needed raw aggression, providing us with a beefy punchiness that shines most in the skull-crushing final minute of “Laceration Wings”.
What’s Left Unsaid is aptly named, almost as if you’re listening to what those bands from twenty years ago could’ve sounded like today. What Foreign Hands does here is pick up the torch that was dropped long ago, and carry it with passionate pride. They have worked tirelessly over the years by releasing EPs and singles, and touring constantly to tighten their sound. The work certainly paid off, as they’ve delivered an album worthy of praise and admiration. These guys deserve all the recognition they can receive, and they could help steer the ship of metalcore back in the right direction with bands such as Static Dress and SeeYouSpaceCowboy, contemporaries that also wear their influences on their sleeves while twisting their own identity with it. Foreign Hands deserves a place on the podium, and hopefully all of this hard work helps shove them to the very top of it.
