Some days we feel happy and love life; some days we don’t, and it’s on those days that we pop in our Hawthorne Heights and Basement CDs and indulge in our own self pity. On those particular days when the aforementioned bands just don’t cut it and we need something else to ease that pain that eats away at us, we find ourselves in the midst of bands like Endeavors. Endeavors is a five-piece metal/hardcore act from Livingston Country, MI., whom has yet to even acquire 5,000 on Facebook – but has managed to take the sad emotions we feel and put it into the angry kind of music that we here in the metal community love. Endeavors does it in an amazing way, I might add. As you may have caught on, Endeavors is an extremely emotionally driven band that harnesses some of the best of Barrier and Sworn In and mixes it with a few original little twists and tastes to create something that is new, but has the sound of something old and great.
With only a four-track EP and a full length release, Sleepwalkers, currently online for purchase (as of recently), it’s not hard to see that the band hasn’t been around for longer than a few years; Endeavors’ Facebook page confirms said accusation. The 31-minute release entitled Sleepwalkers comes to us from no record label and was entirely produced and released in a DIY (do it yourself) fashion. I have to say, I truly do admire the fact that the band created such a wonderful sounding album without any help from outside sources. The 10-track release surrounds itself with such a negative vibe from the very beginning track, “Thomas,” and stretching all the way to the final track, which is aptly titled “Welcome to Ruining My Life.” I briefly discussed the major Sworn In and Barrier influences in the tracks – not just lyrically, but also vocally and instrumentally – but minus the large bass factor in Sworn In’s tracks and some of the sheer anger in the lyrics. Endeavors takes the anger of Sworn In and Barrier and mixes it with some Bring Me the Horizon style riffs at some points, and then harnesses the utmost saddest and depressing emotions to create what we now know as Sleepwalkers.
The lyrics focus mostly on self hatred, indulging in self-pity and even just some blatant complaining about just how crappy life can be. I have no problem with the lyrics and actually find my chest getting a little tense and heavier at some points because of the sheer relation to the lyrics provided. At some points, it may come off as a little bit whiny, though, and for that they lose a little bit of leeway with myself. The release is chock-full of “BLEGH”s and even a nice “ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RAAAA…FUCK” in the third track, “Hang,” that reminded me so much of Counterparts’ “You Think You’re John Fucking Locke” (which is a great thing, by the way).
The lead ups to breakdowns and elements used during, before and after the breakdowns are so well done that it still leaves my mind blown to this day, even after listening to Sleepwalkers constantly. In terms of a metal/hardcore release, this is definitely one of the heaviest, angriest and most emotionally driven releases I’ve heard in a long time. Sadly, the album ends a little too soon and leaves you wanting more from the band; however, the replay value on this album is very abundant and is easily worth a double digit amount of spins.
Sworn In’s new release is definitely going to have a run for its money once the word gets out on these guys. Endeavors is severely underrated and needs to be signed by a top notch label by the end of this year or I’ll have lost faith in this scene.
