Hailing from Wisconsin, Conveyer is a five-piece melodic hardcore band that formed in 2010. The band’s debut full length, Worn Out, is a nine-track release that is sure to put Conveyer on the map of fans of the genre.
The first thing that I noticed when listening to Worn Out is that the vocalist’s style is much like Brendan Murphy’s (Counterparts), and it is both accessible and easily interpreted. Similarly, the lyrical content is fairly ordinary and, although Conveyer is a “spirit-filled hardcore” band, the lyrics do not come off as the least bit preachy. As a matter of fact, one of the only lines that may come off as slightly preachy is “Everything that You are is everything that I strive to be / Everything that I am, I owe to You” (“Patience”). Without having a lyric booklet to see the capitalized “You,” one would think the vocalist is taking about a person – not a higher being.
As I mentioned, though, the lyrics are not very preachy; for the most part, they are fairly typical to the genre. The lyrics are quite gloomy at times, as lines like “My bitterness is taking over, blinded by what I can’t see” (“Surrendering”) and “I’ve never felt so separated, disconnected and so hated / I feel nothing from the things that surround me, so what does it matter if I give nothing back?” (“Nothing”) display isolation or a lack of self-worth. On the other hand, there are also quite a few positive lyrics to motivate listeners to keep pushing on. Furthermore, the overall sound that Conveyer conveys (sorry, I had to) is a very positive-sounding one.
As much as I enjoyed the vocals and lyrics, I liked the instrumental aspect of Conveyer’s sound even more. The riffs are punchy, the chords are dissonant and the leads are melodic; everything about the guitar work reminded me of Counterparts’ The Current Will Carry Us or the split with Exalt. “What’s Inside,” “Worn Out” and “Captive” are a few of the more impressive tracks, as they are filled with passion, melody and (sometimes) aggression. In another sense, “Motion” (the instrumental interlude) also impressed me because it was a nice change of pace.
It gets even better, though. The constant display of up-tempo and technical drumming both lays a nice foundation for the rest of the music as well as steals the show many times throughout the record’s 28-minute playtime. Most of the tracks (especially “Worn Out” and “Surrendering”) are driven by pounding drums that are bound to make you want to airdrum along, yet there are still several moments that display more of a slower, technical edge on every track.
I remember stumbling across Conveyer’s 2012 EP titled Empty Handed earlier on in the year and I wasn’t very impressed; however, two of the three tracks on that EP were rerecorded on the new record and it sounds like Conveyer picked up a new vocalist – or the original vocalist has improved tenfold. Both songs also sound much more complete due to the excellent production quality.
Taking influence from Counterparts and It Prevails is definitely not an anomaly, but what’s noteworthy in this case is the band’s sound is mature beyond its years; it usually takes bands five or more years and at least one full length to reach the level that Conveyer has with Worn Out. If these guys can put out a record this superb a few years after forming – and on their first attempt – I can’t wait to hear what they come up with next.
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For Fans Of: Counterparts, Saints Never Surrender, It Prevails
