Earlier on in the year, we reviewed Ontario’s Atlas’ new EP entitled Ongoing Rescue. This review is also of a band that goes by the name Atlas and plays a somewhat similar style of music, but they hail from Massachusetts. This Atlas plays progressive hardcore/metalcore that is comprised of undeniably catchy clean vocals, monstrous screams, meaningful lyrics, guitar leads that are reminiscent of Counterparts, and impressive drumming. Their debut full length, The Lost Boys, is definitely something worth taking 32 minutes out of your day to listen to.
The vocals on The Lost Boys are very good. Both the harsh and clean vocals slot in with the music seamlessly and it makes for a very fun listen. The harsh vocals sound passionate and aggressive, while the clean vocals are downright catchy. As previously mentioned, the lyrics are also strong, and for the most part, uplifting. My personal favourite lyric can be heard near the end of “MONSTRO” when the vocalist screams out “I’ll face my past with open arms and scars on my back/I don’t know the meaning of failure” during an incredible 2-step part.
Instrumentally, The Lost Boys is also very impressive. Out of the nine tracks on the album, a few are very melodic, two or three are heavier and more aggressive, and the remaining tracks are aggressive and melodic. The strongest tracks are “Spirit Bomb”, “MONSTRO”, and “Chestah Coppah Paht”. The aforementioned tracks are the ones that are aggressive, melodic, and catchy because they consist of excellent guitar leads, groovy riffing, fast-paced and fairly technical drumming, immaculate vocals, catchy cleans, and massive breakdowns.
As much praise as I’ve given The Lost Boys, there is one flaw. The clean vocals are extremely catchy, but there are a few instances where they are not quite as impressive. Nearly half of the vocals on the album are cleanly sung and a few of the vocal melodies sound similar or are predictable, especially near the middle of the album.
What Atlas is doing here isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but it’s definitely upper echelon material. On their debut full-length album entitled The Lost Boys, they’ve blended together several genres ranging from progressive and melodic hardcore to post-hardcore and (southern) metalcore without skipping a beat.
Links: Facebook
