With so many bands in the metalcore genre attempting to make a name for themselves, things begin to sound the same and you grow jaded to the various aspects involved with this music. Honestly, I expected Trace Your Steps to be another one of those bands. When I started up the first track I knew immediately that I was dead wrong and was eager to hear the rest of their EP, Between You & I. Trace Your Steps is an unsigned five piece metalcore band coming from Long Island, New York and they stand out from among the sea of other bands.
Between You & I doesn’t beat around the bush and goes straight into a solid guitar riff intro and powerful vocals on the first track, “In Perspective”. The intensity of the intro remains through the song for a good bit of the song until the end, where some pretty feeble clean vocals kick in for a slow and disappointing closer, especially for the first track. Don’t be fooled, however. “In Perspective” easily qualifies as one of the weakest songs on this EP and it is still an adrenaline inducing thrill ride.
The second track, “Culmination”, gives me everything I was yearning for from the last song. The intro is haunting and relaxing for the first half minute and then the vocals smack you in the face. The screams here are at their peak and the guitar riffs and vocals compliment each other. The clean vocals are much improved from the previous track and are every bit as good as the rest of the music. The chorus that they sing is ridiculously addictive and very reminiscent of Structures.
The next three tracks are all astounding in their own ways. “Sleeper” features lots of clean vocals, memorable choruses and the best guitar work on Between You & I. “Forgiveness” is another song that causes your heart to race but nothing about it stands out other than the brutal closing where the vocalist screams “I won’t forgive you for this!”, but it leaves me feeling like there should be more. The final track “Reckoning” is certainly the highlight of Between You & I. Just in the first minute, there are epic vocals that made my jaw hit the floor. The song continues, alternating between intense sections and then soothing clean vocals before finally coming to an end with a smooth outro.
Instrumentally, this band sounds as if it is the offspring of Like Moths To Flames and Volumes. With a mix of many groovy, “djenty” riffs followed by well-placed bone-crushing breakdowns, there is something here that everyone can enjoy and most people will love. The guitar players do an awesome job of keeping your attention and sending chills down your spine with every chord. The drumming here is fast, strong, and provides a perfect beat for the music. There are far too many positive traits about this band to even begin listing out, but there are some things that can be improved on. As I was listening to the EP, I couldn’t help but notice that many parts sounded the same, such as the intro the “In Perspective” and the intro to “Forgiveness”. Some of the vocal effects used in areas were also used in others, causing them to sound similar. As stated earlier, the clean vocals in the first track wasn’t nearly as good as they were on the rest of the EP.
Trace Your Steps’ Between You & I was definitely a nice surprise upon my first listen. With all of the best aspects from the genre, combined into one and done amazingly, this EP is going to be played quite a few times by me. This release will definitely put them under the spotlight and should not be missed. These guys are sure to be signed soon if they keep doing what they’re doing.
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