Emo rock is a genre that most people in 2018 probably haven’t heard in a decade. Well, that is for good reason.
There aren’t many bands coming out with new, driving and emotional emo music, except for a small handful of records (example: Remo Drive’s “Greatest Hits”).
Emo music is seeing a new resurgence in the trap rap scene of SoundCloud, but that isn’t what I am here to discuss.
I am here to highlight a pretty great emo rock record that was recently released, and it is by a pretty recognizable name if you grew up listening to post-hardcore and pop punk in middle school or high school.
Emery released their seventh studio album, “Eve,” and somehow they are still pushing to stay relevant in the underground, even after their long run and almost infamous emo and post-hardcore career they made themselves with records like “The Weak’s End,” “We Do What We Want” and especially “In Shallow Seas We Sail.”
If you don’t know, Emery is a five-member group from Rock Hill, S.C., and they are known for incorporating several different genres, Christian views, dynamic and memorable vocals, melodic melodies and a heavy atmosphere.
The band isn’t afraid to experiment and continues to build on recognizable elements of their sound while also incorporating new and exciting elements to their music.
For example, their early records are known for a very intricate, yet memorable duo vocals and screams that seamlessly interlock with each other.
The screams were shrill yet driving and the cleans were angelic and sticky.
However, with this record, they add significantly more melodic cleans and almost eliminate the screams entirely, with a few tracks having them in the background.
Also, the band eliminates, for the most part, the post-hardcore sound they started out with, to bring in more indie rock, math rock and melodic hardcore sounds.
The band flawlessly weaves these very diverse elements into each track with almost complete success.
Each track builds into this almost angelic-like chorus, which is only trumped by the intricate vocals delivered by the two lead signers.
They faultlessly weave in and out of each other and bring up many detailed topics from God to heartbreak.
So, on the surface, this is an intricate and detailed emo record, with many elements of Catholic and religious teachings that even make me stop and think.
It’s not the cheesy and overblown religious lyrics you get from other groups.
It’s subtle and powerful.
The only real negatives with the project is the short “acoustic” track “Bones,” which is supposed to be a breather from the record.
In reality, all it does is interrupt the melodic nature of the record to present a rough anti-folk track that does nothing to the album.
The track “Street of Gold” is the only track that doesn’t build to anything from start to finish.
The rest of the record beautifully builds to a satisfactory conclusion, but this track stiffs out at the end.
At the end of the day, Emery almost flawlessly brings back a genre that has been having trouble being brought back.
They do it with interesting, intricate, melodic and detailed songs that keep me, and hopefully you, coming back for more. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. So, I give this a 4.8/5.
Happy listening, Gannon University!
ALLAN COLLINS
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