CD: “We’re Never Coming Home” by Surviving The Charade.

Unless you are a aficionado of Swedish Metalcore you have probably not heard of these guys. In fact neither had I, but then again I don’t listen to much Metalcore. But when you hear that their first EP was titled “Your Breath Smells Like Ben & Jerry’s” you have to take interest.

Hailing from Stockholm these chaps formed in highschool. The band Surviving The Charade aim seems to be to tear down the preconceptions of their genre, and the industry – predominantly with riffs and attitude. After gaining underground success with their debut EP the album with a mellow sounding opening; and keyboards giving it a dark edge-punctuated with harshly spat out vocals ease you into the album and leave you with a rough idea of what is coming. “Shout, Walls, Shout!” starts with some well delivered clean vocals, punctuated with everything from Screamo to the more guttural. All the while held together with some tremendously catchy hooks.

If you heard only this track and it’s opening, you would have a totally different impression of this band. “Here We Stand” sees a return to the clean vocals, then the drums kick in and the riffs keep coming. It is a tremendous Rock track. The aggression kicks in, but only serves to punctuate the track for a moment as the Pop/Rock feel rules with aggression and screams. Taking a back seat; ever present, but not the focus on this track

‘Broken Glass’ ups the tempo into what can only be described as an explosive outburst of tempo with aggression. This time the Hardcore aspects take equal footing with the clean vocals, while the screams take on the tempo with great synergy.

‘Dance For Messiah’ hits the mark with some chaotic screaming, but again blended in with a strong rhythm and catchy riffs. The tracks sum up the album well. Again, the clean vocals offsetting the proceedings against the guitars as Dan’s screaming takes control; and at times almost sounding like an evil Mr.Bungle in their delivery.

Closing with the anthemic sounding “The Night We All Forgot” it rounds the album off well. Exploding into your ears the guys wear their hearts on their sleeves; with the chorus providing that anthemic feel, marrying up the chaos and frenetic nature of Hardcore along with the melodic sound.

This is an interesting blend of Rock and Metal, and one that I thought was easier to listen to than I expected, as I read back through these words. Everything about this album states quality; from their approach to songwriting, through to execution. If Metalcore is your thing then this is worth checking out. For me it has certainly received more plays than I would have expected from this genre. Another surprising thing is that this album flies by.

“We’re Never Coming Home” is due for release this May. Get your earplugs ready!

(I had never heard of DisneyCore before as a genre, and I am not sure I would hear this album featuring in a film with Tinkerbell, or Bambi – but I would definitely watch it! Just think, “Like Animals” playing in The Little Mermaid! )

Line Up
Daniel Rotstam (Vocals)
Simon Brantklev (Clean Vocals)
Fredrik Brolin (Lead Guitar)
Viktor Lundberg (Rythm Guitar)
Fredric Johansson (Bass)
Sebastian Brydniak (Drums)

Track Listing
We’re Never Coming Home
Shout, Walls, Shout !
Above The Skyline
Shotgun Wedding Bride
The Diary Of Frosty Jack
Here We Stand
Broken Glass
Dance For Messiah
Like Animals
The Night We All Forgot

Links
http://survivingthecharade.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingTheCharade
http://www.myspace.com/survivingthecharade

Words by Jon.