‘Everything That Got Us Here’ is the third full-length from post-hardcore act Secrets and features their third change in the vocalist department. Wade Walters is the latest screamer to join the band (also handling bass duties), replacing two non-clean singers before him, and coinciding with his arrival, clean vocalist Richard Rogers (also the band’s rhythm guitarist) has taken the reigns as lead singer. While this creates another new chapter for the band in terms of line-up and sound, the same can’t be said for its effect on the genre. ‘Everything That Got Us Here’ is an exercise in formulaic post-hardcore, ticking the boxes of overproduced clean choruses, screamed verse patterns, breakdowns and drop tuned guitars.
Rogers’ new frontman duty gets off to an awkward start with ‘Intro’, a solo acapella effort that feels out of place in the context of the rest of the record, and ‘Rise Up’, whose bland and monotonous chorus is unhelped by the predictable instrumentals beneath it. It’s clear that Secrets have shifted their sound to focus on strong, catchy choruses and while moving Rogers to lead vocalist gives them the skills to make this work, too often the chorus melodies are uninspiring and lack the required impact. ‘Learn to Love’ is the only clear exception among a forgettable gallery of vocal patterns.
Behind the vocals the instrumentals lay a solid foundation of upbeat drums and chunky chords, however the song structures stay consistent throughout, making every verse an obvious prelude to the next big, high-tempo chorus. Once your ears get trained to this songwriting formula, the record lacks any noticeable moments of excitement or surprise to pull you out of the pattern.
‘Everything That Got Us Here’ isn’t a bad record. The instrumentals do their job, Rogers’ vocal tone is decent and the choruses do enough to give you something to sing along to. Post-hardcore though is awash with similar sounding artists, particularly amongst their Rise Records peers and unfortunately Secrets don’t do enough on this release to differentiate themselves even from their label mates, never mind the rest of the genre. There’s potential on display here though and if the band can maintain a consistent line-up in the future, they may be able to concentrate on new ideas rather than finding new members.
MARK JOHNSON