In a short but successful career, the four-piece Captives has been known to write fairly lengthy songs. The band’s debut EP, My Eyes Are Open, featured four tracks – all of which exceeding four minutes in length – over the course of its 19-minute mashup of genres (including punk, emo, indie, alternative and a few more). Captives’ new EP entitled Afterimage follows the same pattern; all five tracks on the release play for more than four minutes and combine for a total of nearly 30 minutes and several different genres are blended together to create one diverse and very interesting release.
The EP opens with the lead single, “All I Have,” which could easily be mistaken for unreleased Balance and Composure material. The vocals are a bit raspier at times, but that is definitely not a bad thing. The extremely raspy vocals add even more emotion to an already emotional sound. The cleanly sung vocals are also incredible, especially in the final minute of the EP’s opener. The third track of Afterimage, “Leaving,” delivers the cleanly sung vocals much more often and combines a slightly more mellow sound in the instruments.
Speaking of the instruments, that aspect of Afterimage also reminded me of Balance and Composure. Several verses are melodic and atmospheric, while most of the choruses are driven by heavily distorted chords. The typically slow-paced drumming sets a solid foundation for the rest of the music and the bass (though not extremely noticeable) brings everything together for one excellent package. Everything is basically perfect; if the bass was more overpowering or the drumming was more technical or faster paced, the message and sound that Captives is trying to convey may not have been as effectively delivered.
The only issue that I have with Captives is that it seems like the members are trying a bit too hard to sound like Balance and Composure. Considering the fact that I’m a huge fan of that band and I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of The Things We Think We’re Missing (B&C’s new record), I’ll let the imitating slide so long as Captives continues to put out very solid music…and hopefully a full length sometime in the near future.
