FOR FANS OF: Linkin Park, State Champs, Motionless In White
So many of the new bands I’ve come across recently are based on the east coast. I'm about to pack my bags and move cross country so I can be in the middle of it. Dead Eyes, a five-piece rock group hailing from Baltimore, Maryland is the newest addition to the list of reasons I’m second guessing the whole “west is best” idiom.
The band released their latest single “Break In The Current” alongside a kick ass, high energy music video on May 21, and it’s chock full of the glitchy hardcore sound I’ve come to love recently. The track and the video both give the feeling of an early 2000’s action movie, one that pulses adrenaline through your veins while you’re left on the edge of your seat anticipating what’s coming around the next corner, or the next verse.
Upon first listen, I wasn’t sure if I was in love with the vocal style of the verses in this track. But after diving a little deeper and giving it another chance I realized that this choppy, abrupt style perfectly mimics that aqueous movement of the current they reference in the chorus. I am continually enamored by all the ways lyricists come up with to reference water in music, and by the way I’m drawn subconsciously to them. You can be transported to a calm, crystalline body of water, one that reflects an image almost seamlessly on its surface. Or you can be pulled under, struggling to keep your head above water that moves faster than you can conquer it.
This song is special because it uses current in a way not only to reference a rapidly moving source of water, one that drags you under the surface and tosses you recklessly from point to point, but also a period of time. The current state of events we’re facing not only as a society, but the current state of your own mine. Vocalist Zach Williams says “This song is about getting knocked down and refusing to stay down; knowing you have what it takes to get back up no matter how far, hard or often you fall.” It seems that no matter how hard the current rages, there is always a glimmer of hope on the surface.
The breakdown of this song is electrifying. The guitar work is a stunning exhibit of talent the members of this band possess. Expertly crafted riffs that seem both disjointed and cohesive simultaneously are melded with small drum fills and a lot of symbol work. You’re left with one more chorus, and then the instrumental falls away and you’re left face to face with a beautiful vocal flow. The reprieve you needed after fighting rushing water that took all your strength to best, but you made it across and can revel in your accomplishment.
If heavy sounds mixed with thought provoking lyricism is your style, I’d definitely recommend giving Dead Eyes a listen. I know I’m going to be on the lookout for their next release.
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