Essex based five-piece Seasons Collide are relatively new to the UK music scene, having formed in early 2011. Their debut LP – recorded and released dangerously close to their inception – plays as if it was created by a band far more established. ‘Horizons’ is padded with the conventional breakdowns and split vocals found in a wealth of the band’s counterparts, and Seasons Collide deliver a widespread take on an entrenched genre. For bands such as this, it is by no means easy to differentiate from the norm.
Lacking the technical variation inbuilt into recent contemporaries such as Architects and Killswitch Engage, ‘Horizons’ responds with a certain straightforward heaviness that proves surprisingly refreshing. Each track steadily ploughs through high-speed riffs and dominant guitars, underpinned by regular shifts between screams and clean vocals that truly inject the character into the record. The screams pierce through the instrumentals with a level of ferocity that has sometimes been lost on more methodological releases and the clean vocals fall into perfect time, complimenting the overall structure of each song rather than feeling disarranged.
Seasons Collide are most engaging when they slow the tempo of the record. The immediate highlight is closer ‘Saviour’, which delivers the most brutal vocals immediately against climactic melodic builds. The band experiment more with extended instrumental structures on the track, rather than the short guitar moments as the preceding ‘Run for Your Life’.
Although the underlay for the overall sound is fairly straightforward, the band are far more visceral when they experiment with instrumentation. The bookends to the record are the most engaging moments, but the quality falls short a little in the meat of the album – on ‘Run for Your Life’ in particular the short guitar bursts and monotone screams feel decidedly lacklustre.
‘Horizons’ is not without its faults, but there is certainly something special about Seasons Collide. Where recent underground metalcore bands opt for technicality for technicality’s sake, they appear to be honing the fundamental nature of the genre. Although at times this direction holds them back, when they get the combination of simplicity and experimentation right they deliver a truly enthralling sound. Considering ‘Horizons’ is the outfit’s first EP after only a year together, Seasons Collide are undoubtedly a band to look out for come the first full-length.
BEN TIPPLE