It’s kind of refreshing when you come across bands that don’t try to rock the boat or get famous off of drama or notorious acts. Instead, they create a good blend of heavy – but not too heavy – music and enjoy what they’re doing. They keep it simple instead of trying to over complicate and bring forth new sounds that usually end up ruining the band and hurting their fan base immensely.
A perfect example of this is In Alcatraz 1962. This five piece band managed by Standby Records and hailing from Northern Virginia has been keeping things simple since 2005. More than seven years running, with two EPs under their belt and their newest full-length entitled The Drive being released on October 9th, things are looking bright for these guys. Having been listening to In Alcatraz 1962 for a few years now, I had a good idea of what to expect on this record and my suspicions were proven correct as soon as I finished my first spin.
The boys in Alcatraz have always had a really solid blend of metalcore and hardcore influences in their music. Chock full of pretty strong breakdowns and some gnarly riffs every so often, I was content with this release and what I listened to was overall what I expected in the first place. There were some melodic riffs thrown into a few songs which I really dug and at some points the vocals had a really big The Acacia Strain vibe to them which was also a nice bonus. The instrumental halfway through the album was really relaxing and I fell in love with the riffs that they used during the beginning and end of that track. Big thumbs up to them for that. Overall, though, I found the album to be a tad boring and repetitive at times. I know there’s not a whole lot to do when you’re mixing metalcore and hardcore together and I really do appreciate the fact that they don’t try to push the limits with all kinds of experimental stuff or try to change who they are to gain a bigger fan base, but personally, I found it to just not hold much weight when it came to me wanting to play it over and over again. I found myself having to kind of force myself to want to continue to listen to it. Not to say that the album in its own right isn’t great but being more of a heavy deathcore and death metal fan, I found it to just not have enough of a heavy factor to keep me interested let alone anything else. What mostly kept my attention was the melodic riffs I heard in several of the songs. In Alcatraz 1962 has unleashed a relatively angry full-length that reminds me of a lighter version of The Acacia Strain. If you’re into a solid mix of metal and hardcore, I’d definitely recommend picking up the album, but if you’re expecting something sensational, I will guarantee you that you’re going to be disappointed. In Alcatraz 1962, like I’ve said before, keep it simple and straight to the point. They enjoy making this sound and they don’t feel obligated to make anything different for anyone out there and I respect them greatly for that.
Links: Facebook
