Another week, another few awesome EPs for us to sink our teeth into! Join me in checking it out!
Unto Others: I Believe in Halloween II
Following up on the success of their previous part of this series back in 2021, as well as their full album release last year, the gothic metalcore quartet do a great job with this short output! With three great, epic original tracks followed by two excellent covers, it’s a really great release! I liked the more sci-fi theme of it, especially since a lot of darker metal still grounds itself in demons and the occult etc. Every track also manages to perfectly walk the line between dark heaviness and more catchy, melodicness, too. The opener is awesome, as is the almost punky single from the EP, ‘What I Did…’ and Misfits-like ‘Robots’. Also, their cover of ‘Pet Cemetery’ slaps. It definitely fits the time of year and the Halloween theme, but done in a way that only Unto Others could! It’s definitely worth checking out, and gets a solid 8/10 from us!
Tuk Smith & the Restless Hearts: Troubled Paradise
After last years album, I have become a big fan of this artist, so the hype was pretty high for me when this was announced. Thankfully, but unsurprisingly, this more than lived up to said hype! All four tracks are classic rock/APR greatness, and follow on from Rogue to Redemption perfectly! The opener/single/title track is one of the best tracks the collective have put out, in this writers humble opinion, while ‘Sadie Mae’ is another standout. However, as I said, all four tracks are fantastic, and it’s an incredibly easy 15-minute listen. Tuk’s vocals and songwriting ability are both fantastic, and it’s honestly becoming insane to me that they aren’t well on their way to becoming a massive name in the scene currently. If you are into the softer side of rock, I cannot recommend this enough, check it out immediately! An incredibly solid 9/10
Above Us the Waves: Counting Seasons
This EP slaps you right in the face with ‘Cliffhanger’ from the offset, and doesn’t relent for all 13 minutes of its runtime. It’s fucking awesome! It’s very Trivium in all the best ways, but also gives off elements of somehow both Orbit Culture and Deftones, which I love! It’s yet another release that doesn’t have a bad track on it, with all four songs being melodic metalcore goodness. I’d never heard of the band before but they have a huge new fan in me! Also, huge shoutout to Kin Beneath Chorus who are awesome featuring on ‘Ghost Issues’. For the first thing the band have put out since 2018’s Rough on High Seas, it is a more than welcome return, and an EP I will certainly be spinning a fair bit in the coming weeks and months! If anyone reading this is into metalcore, melodeath or post hardcore, this is an EP I cannot recommend enough! Yet another 9/10, amazing stuff!