I’ve come to realize that popularity means absolutely nothing in the music scene. I’ve watched the most popular bands perform the poorest of sets, while some of the most unknown bands sing with amounts of passion and heart that popular bands only wish they could. One of those unknown bands has managed to swing a deal with a relatively popular label and is definitely going to be one of the next most-talked about bands in the scene.
Go Forth is a five-piece melodic hardcore band from Auburn, NY., who just recently signed with We Are Triumphant to release their debut full length, Mindful. The eight track, 26-minute release is not quite a full length, in my mind, yet it’s a bit longer than a typical EP; it’s somewhere in between, I guess.
The opening track, “Le Mans,” starts off with some chillingly melodic vocals performed by Max Gouldner – whose voice has an extreme similarity to Chadwick Johnson (Hundredth). If it’s not apparent by the first couple minutes of the first track, this release is the epitome of melodic hardcore. Ranging from the riffs to the vocals, Go Forth embodies everything that one would expect and hope a melodic hardcore band to be. With positive to positively negative lyrics, Go Forth harnesses their inner Hundredth, and even some older For The Fallen Dreams influence can be heard on some tracks.
One of my concerns with Mindful is that some of the tracks (“Le Mans” and “Truly”) – while performed great – seem to drag on after the first few minutes. I’ve never been a big fan of longer songs, especially in the hardcore genre. I tend to enjoy more songs with less track time. I also found that Go Forth is one of those bands that puts an interlude near the very end of their album. I have never understood why bands do this, yet it happens quite often. I thought the point of an interlude was to set a tone or an atmosphere for the release then continue with the rest of the tracks, not throw it in as the second last “track” for a minute then continue with the final song. It would make sense if it was used as an outro or near the middle of the release, but its placement seems totally irrelevant to me and I found no use for it where it was put.
Besides the tiny infractions, I felt the release was composed brilliantly and had every single element that a melodic hardcore album should contain: passion, heart, true grit and emotion. I haven’t dug a melodic hardcore album this much since Landscapes dropped Life Gone Wrong. Granted Go Forth continues on the path they’ve shown thus far, the band truly has what it takes to storm into the melodic hardcore scene and be on top with bands like Counterparts, Hundredth, It Prevails and Landscapes.
Links: Facebook
