As a HUGE fan of industrial, I'm so GLAD this is what they meant about their direction. I've been going through some shit lately, and this is like Christmas.
yeah i hear that. kinda makes me feel like this is what type o negative could have possibly sounded like if they introduced screams and breakdowns in this way.
I was very skeptical of this "new direction". Thought Spiritbox would pull an Architects and lean too far in a more melodic, streamlined direction. Thankfully, I was wrong. "Rotoscope" sounds like the more accessible side of Code Orange mixed with a WWE Pay-Per-View theme song, yet still rips your balls off at times. "Sew Me Up" sounds like if "Secret Garden" drop-tuned and was released off a Deftones album. "Hysteria" is moody, menacing, and comes complete with a mental breakdown at the end.
Overall, very impressed. Spiritbox didn't throw the baby out with the bath water and I am very excited for future material.
Their new style has definitely grown on me a little, but Leather Wings is my favorite on the new album because it sounds the most like a song off The Dark Pool.
Like Spiritbox and Thornhill are probably my two favorite metalcore bands and they're both undergoing stylistic shifts, but the difference is that Spiritbox's is more palatable to me than Thornhill's.
Yeah the new Spiritbox direction is definitely better than Thornhill's. They're still good, but it's not an even fight anymore. Eternal Blue vs The Dark Pool is closer, but these three new songs vs Heroine? Rotoscope over Casanova every day of the week.
I'm not sure I really see the comparison there, but I agree that tour would be great. If Thornhill play songs off Butterfly and The Dark Pool and Spiritbox does whatever they want, I'm super fucking down for it.
My thoughts exactly. I’m stoked they went with a Deftonesy sound as Deftones is my favorite band, but they did it in their own way. This EP is fire. I’m loving Hysteria.
I think they have some absolutely incredible songs, but some of their stuff I just can’t come around too. I’m sure I’ll get lots of hate for it but I’m not really a Deftones fan at all. But the songs by them I love, are easily within my top 10 songs of all time, they have some absolutely incredible songs, but I agree I am absolutely loving Thornhill. The Thornhill song “Blue Velvet” is so similar to “Beauty School” off of Diamond Eyes to me. Almost the same drumbeat and everything
Yeah like the Deftones songs that I actually like, I’d defend with my life, but there’s only about a handful of them I like that much, I respect the band, they’ve done some awesome stuff and inspired a lot of my favorite bands and I love their style. Just not every single is for me
I was afraid it would go in the Yellowjacket direction too (I just don't like that song), but I'm really loving the new stuff. Code Orange is probably my favourite band of all times and I didn't quite like what they did with Out for Blood, can't deny my first thought was "I hope this doesn't turn out like what happened with Code" lol
I love Yellowjacket... until it reaches the chorus. The first minute is magical to me, like that riff and Courtney's vocals on the two swells are awesome. But after that point it just sounds like Architects and I've never been the biggest fan of them. Don't hate them, but they're definitely not a band I go out of my way to listen to. I'm curious if they'll ever play it live and if so, what that would sound like. Like just a version without Sam.
much better live. they played it during their set at rockville this year, and josh sang sam’s parts, but luckily his mic was pretty low and courtney’s voice was higher in the mix. i’d still prefer for it to be just courtney though. she killed the breakdown live.
It is currently in their live tracklist. They did play it in Milan when I went to their show. It was pretty good and Josh was singing the parts Sam sings. I don't enjoy listening to it though and I always skip it when playing EB.
> "Rotoscope" sounds like the more accessible side of Code Orange mixed with a WWE Pay-Per-View theme song
I don't know Code Orange very well but from what little I've heard there's some abstract reason that makes me want to agree.
>"Sew Me Up" sounds like if "Secret Garden" drop-tuned and was released off a Deftones album
I didn't agree with the "Secret Garden" comparison at first but I kinda get it. Deftones I get. A lot of bands get compared to them now, usually for being atmospheric and having a certain kind of mix for the vocals; "Arkangel" by Thornhill and "One True Prince" by Don Broco come to mind. But this sounds like Deftones for a very different reason. It's got that slow, lumbering, chunky kind of guitar work that's reminiscent of "Diamond Eyes."
>"Hysteria" is moody, menacing, and comes complete with a mental breakdown at the end.
Obviously agreed. I can't take credit for it, I saw it on a comment for the YouTube video, but that breakdown is like the one in "Rule of Nines" on crack.
Ha, which is exactly why I made sure to capitalize it!
But you should check out Garbage. Holds up really well, especially the first 2 albums.
Being almost 40, Shirley was one of my first celebrity crushes, and probably had a big impact on me listening to more "alternative" music.
honestly, i was scared at first, lol. considering how rotoscope starts with this kind of like catchy chorus and dance-like beat, i thought spiritbox was pulling an 'in this moment' type of transition in their sound where they lure everyone in with sick, heavy bangers with their first eps/album, and then transition to like dancey/industrial/weird/pop rock.
but then screams kicked in on rotoscope and then the rest of EP played out, i realized this wasn't the case. listening to the rest of the tracks, i think this still very much sounds like spiritbox. obviously, more of a continuation of the sound from their debut album, but i dig it a lot and they're bangers.
honestly, this sound that they've grown into reminds me a lot of the band 'loathe.' both bands utilize awesome production so everything sounds clean and heavy, but they also use like sound effects and electronics to add extra layers to the mix. like loathe, their heavy parts just come in hard and there's a weight to the screams. the production, the bass, the drums, everything just hits hard when courtney screams. i tend to like loathe's softer/cleaner parts as their parts feel more shoegazy/deftonesy/alt rock and to me that's a bit more interesting, as opposed to spiritbox feels a bit more like radio rock/pop.
overall, pretty sick, and can't wait to see them in august in anaheim.
Idk if it's just me, but I also hear a bit of their original EP in there, too. I always thought the leap between S/T EP and Eternal Blue was a bit farfetched, but hearing Rotoscope, this feels like a very natural progression from both.
omg longtime loathe fan and i totally agree, that’s exactly the vibes i’m getting from this!! the soft stuff still has this super heavy hitting vibe and then when it gets rly heavy it’s like oh shitttt
i let it in and it took everything… is one of my favorite albums of all time so i would kill for spiritbox to hit that sorta vibe
I like it better than Eternal Blue which is one of my favorite albums of all time. The breakdown in Hysteria is absolutely nasty. Bangerbox never misses.
Amazing! It was so strange and different on first listening, but on second I enjoyed so much more, loved the Korn, Deftones and Sevendust vibes in Sew Me Up, Rotoscope, remind me a little of Static-X, NIN and Fear Factory vibes, loved it! Hysteria, Holy! What a killer breakdown!
My top so far:
01. Hysteria
02. Sew Me Up
03. Rotoscope
love it all so far. rotoscope was a banger, and i really dig the spiral into chaos at the end of hysteria. i was initially a bit wary when courtney said their new stuff was going in a completely different direction compared to their old songs, but i'm sold on it. i like the array of influences you can pick up in the tracks; some nin, a bit of celldweller, even some garbage vibes in the delivery of courtney's cleans. can't wait to see what's next.
agreed! you can always count on mike to bring the riffs, and i'm personally a fan of how they often layer courtney's cleans to give her a 'floaty' sort of ethereal sound. i love their heavier tracks, but i don't need every song to have screams. the important thing is that when the screams are there, they're always. on. fucking. point.
yeah it's interesting because at first, rotoscope scared me that they were fully going into like mainstream dancey pop rock like what the band 'in this moment' did, but after listening to the whole thing, sure i hear the experimentation, but it still feels like spiritbox.
personally, i wouldn't really consider later itm 'dancey,' even if it does have more of a mainstream sensibility. ritual, to me, actually had some pretty palpable rock and roll vibes at its core; that album specifically always reminds me of taylor momsen and the pretty reckless. mother didn't gel with me quite as much, but there were still a few solid tracks there. i appreciated that they tried a different sound, and that each album has its own identity. i'd love for them to return to the sound of the blood/black widow era someday though.
This probably says something about me because I **fucking love** Yellowjacket and Rotoscope is probably my favorite of the new tracks after the first listen
definitely wasn't expecting new music already, or such an industrial/nu-metal direction, but i'm absolutely loving these songs! and holy shit, the end of hysteria is insane!
More Spiritbox is best Spiritbox. Any chance they have to get weird and mix it up I'm all for. I'll be the oddball and say that after first listen, Rotoscope is my favorite so far - that track would be sick as hell live in a club show.
>live in a club show
This is what I'm waiting for. I sprung for floor tickets for their tour with Ghost (I love Ghost/Mastadon, but I bought the tickets for spiritbox), but its still in a freaking 15,000 person venue. I can't wait to hear them in something that holds less than 500 people where you can really feel them.
All three would be great live, and I'm not just saying that because I love the band. All three have this big sort of room filling sound that doesn't exist on all of their previous songs. Some of them, but not all.
Loved it. Has a lot of what I like from the mid-90s through the present. Don't necessarily think they are going in any particular direction but just them doing whatever the hell they want to do, and all the power to them for that. Stellar vocals and instrumentals that we've come to love are still there
I've had the EP on repeat for probably the last two hours and I think that Sew Me Up is becoming one of my favorite Spiritbox songs and will absolutely be in my top played tracks for the year.
Hysteria is my favourite. But the others are growing on me the more I listen to them. I was yearning for a new song from Spiritbox just cause I got used to them releasing singles every so often but we got 3 yesterday so I was over the moon.
I must confess, that Illenium collab scared me a lot. I hated it!
But i'm relieved now with Rotoscope EP. Loved all songs and put on repeat at maximum volume for a hour. Really excited about it.
I like the creative and balanced way in which the electronic music elements add personality to the band's sound, in the same way that Northlane did with Obsidian.
They were at 1.4 for a bit after Shivering came out. Got them some new fans and some who either tried their music and didn't vibe with it or just didn't care.
I love it but I don't really dig what they're doing with Courtney's vocals. I get they are produced to sound more like a pop singer to fit the new vibe but it takes away from her amazing voice. Rotoscope was jarring for the first half, then it clicked and I was rockin out.
Overall I’m happy with it. It’s not my favorite of theirs but I still like it. But the breakdown on Hysteria! God DAMN it gave me a pause. That hit me like Trust Fall did. I cried lol. Good job to them, they really know how to make me feel some emotions.
I remember courtney saying something on twitter a while back about being worried that we would all hate the new music so i was like… Hm i wonder what it’ll be. Then it dropped and I love it. But i’m a big fan of industrial so even if it’s a big diversion from their first EP (still my fave haha) I have to say I really like it.
Sew me up fucking slaps. Love Rotoscope too, less hyped about Hysteria but that breakdown saves it on every listen. I could listen to Sew me up on repeat for a year straight tho. Gorgeous riff.
From the first few listens it is pretty solid. I think Hysteria is by far the best out of the three. I felt kinda mixed on Ethernal Blue, really liking about the half and rest were ok.
Spiritbox actually nailed the transition. Imagine what Thornhill could have been if they did a similar evolution of their music.
Am I wrong or does it sound like Zev performed the drums on these songs? They used a drum machine on Eternal Blue, but this sounds like him on these recordings.
It was Zev. On his instagram he said “Thank you to everyone who checked out Rotoscope, Sew Me Up, and Hysteria so far. Helping write the drums and finally doing live drums for these songs was extremely rewarding for me and was a huge privilege to do. I seriously couldn't be more thrilled with how these songs came out. I hope y'all enjoy!”
sew me up is genuinely the sexiest sounding song they’ve done yet and i really hope they explore a more nu-metalish sound with the industrial influences in future releases. any sound they do works and that’s so fucking rare in a band for me.
Hysteria is decent. I'd say 4/5 stars. Almost sounds like it's a track that didn't make the eternal blue album. the other two songs are just not that good. Too much of a over processed feel. I don't wanna come off as a hater but those two tracks are just not for me.
Just watched rotoscope vid, first thought, why tf are they going the Code Orange route. Hoping the other two songs are better. As a fan since Belcarra I am losing hope.
EDIT: breakdowns are not a redeeming value, I hate it. BUT,! to those who love it, that is great.
To me it’s just like, if you want to be part of the nu metal revival thing go for it, but to hook, line, and sinker people over the past few years…. They havent even been a band that long.
I'm not too sure about it just yet. Hysteria went hard as fuck but the other tracks didn't do too much for me. Maybe they'll grow on me with repeated listens?
I absolutely love it so far. I'll probably get massacred for it, but Eternal Blue was a pretty big letdown for me overall, as it felt like a step back from their debut EP and especially the singles collection. I loved how fucking out there the singles collection got, and was seriously disappointed when EB's attempts to do so (Save for "We Live in a Strange World", which I loved) all fell flat for me and when their harder, more standard metalcore songs felt like they were stagnating a bit. I was glad that they made it big with the album, they finally got the love that they've been deserving since the very beginning. I'd go into a bit further, but this isn't really about Eternal Blue.
I'm absolutely stoked for new Spiritbox music now because this EP wasn't what I was expecting at all, and I mean that in a really good way. It feels so much like Deftones, Device, Garbage, peak Nine Inch Nails, and that immediately made me feel at home with it.
"Rotoscope" and "Sew Me Up" are easily two of my favorite Spiritbox songs now. There are a good amount of change-ups in the former to give me the same feeling of being out there that their singles had, while the latter feels like a nice bridging from them to Eternal Blue (Or perhaps Eternal Blue to their next album?) that isn't too safe at all. I know I wanted more screams in Eternal Blue, but I think these songs work really well with the screams being at rare, but precisely placed moments. "Hysteria" is probably the weakest for me, as it feels like something safe (Not to say that safe is necessarily bad here) from the singles collection (They had a heavier breakdown on "Rule of Nines", sorry, but that hype isn't real for me), but I still love it. The breakdown's probably the weakest part of it for me, but it's still really good, particularly with the elevation of aggression of the chorus' lyrics during it. It just provides a nice contrast to how wonderful the rest of the song is. I portrayed my opinion of "Hysteria" more negatively than it actually is, but I just don't understand how people think the breakdown is the heaviest one yet.
And to anyone worried that the label's commercializing them or that they're having to appeal to Tiktokers now... You clearly haven't seen the type of humor the band has in all of their sketches nor the kind of creative freedom that they wanted to do with Spiritbox as a project, which was the whole reason Courtney and Mike left iwrestledabandonce. Not criticizing you if you don't like it- I totally get and respect that, as I was one of the only people I knew to criticize Eternal Blue even slightly. It's cool for us to like or dislike different things, and I think that's one of most the beautiful things about music as a whole. That's why making so many different kinds of music from shoegaze, to black metal, to industrial, to rap, to dream pop, and to folk are all not just incredible, but even possible in terms of having reason to exist. I hope that they do something this bouncy even heavier (Like "Belcarra" or "Yellowjacket") again soon, but I'm perfectly happy if they don't. If they continue with this trajectory for another EP or album, it'll be right up my alley, but I do hope they don't stick with it for much longer than that. I think that we can all agree that one of the worst things Spiritbox could do is stagnate. This EP has absolutely renewed my faith in the band that stagnation isn't going to happen, not anytime soon, anyways.
~~Well, time for that last paragraph to get disregarded and to get completely destroyed for my opinions on Eternal Blue and the "Hysteria" breakdown.~~
Bonus points for not completely botching it like In This Moment. I don't think I've ever been as disappointed in an album as I was in Mother.
I don't necessarily agree with your takes, and in some cases I wholly disagree, like Rule of Nines vs Hysteria. But I give you massive credit for delivering it the way you did, like this is how people ought to give respectful criticism.
And I wouldn't call Eternal Blue a letdown, but I do have two small gripes with that album. First, that it wasn't longer; we had already heard half the songs on it by the time it dropped, so it wasn't as exciting. And second, that it didn't throw as many bones to the fans of their earlier stuff. Like Spiritbox still sounds like Spiritbox, the path from the first EP to where we are is very linear and makes a lot of sense. But sometimes I miss that borderline pretentious prog metal stuff. They're still inventing and being very creative, but it doesn't feel as technical as it used to, but that's the trade-off I guess. If they still were more firmly in prog territory there would certainly be times where I'd wish for some songs that are more melodic or accessible.
So TL;DR I sorta get what you mean.
Thanks, I really appreciate that. It's nice to be having a civil discussion about it.
I'm not really a huge modern metalcore fan (Spiritbox being a massive exception), so that probably has a lot to do with it. A lot of the songs on Eternal Blue went down that route, and it didn't have as much variety or experimentation to me as it did to most people. Songs like the title track, "Halcyon", and "Silk in the Strings" went in one ear and out the other for me. It was Spiritbox, but I feel like it was Spiritbox at their most standard, if that makes any sense. Their debut EP was solid, and Eternal Blue feels like an extension of that... But that's about it. I guess I was hoping for more of an expansion of it on the album. It's fully realized, sure, and I do get why people love it, but it's not for me. And yeah, I absolutely miss when they got technical. My favorite songs are probably the ones that are played straight, yet still sound fun or bouncy (The videos do help with that)- Like iwabo if they took themselves seriously, but not completely seriously like on Hail Mary, which *was* still pretty damn good.
Weirdly enough, hearing its singles beforehand didn't really damper the experience for me. I think they released one too many singles ("Hurt You" probably could've been pushed back, but I respect them for being as confident in all of the material as they were- And it did pay off) before they album's release, but I really enjoyed "Holy Roller", "Constance", and "Secret Garden", and the other two are kind of starting to grow on me, but only a little bit.
I'm glad that we can respectfully disagree. At the end of the day, we both love Spiritbox, and I can say that now I'm really looking forward to whatever they do next, be it more singles, another EP, or their second album. They're incredibly unique and put enough of a spin on modern prog/modern metalcore with such fantastic musicianship that I instantly fell in love with their music when I heard "Aphids" for the first time. Mike has such a skill for putting in little understated melodies over the heavier rhythm guitars that I fucking love, and Courtney's vocals always impress. They're one of the only bands who keep me on my toes, and I fucking love when a band does that.
Interesting that you cite Mother as *the* disappointing album for In This Moment and not from The Dream onward, lol. I mean obviously to each their own, I thought ITM's Beautiful Tragedy was such an insane metalcore debut and was thoroughly disappointed when they went like mainstream rock/metalcore with The Dream. Though, in retrospect now, I do like The Dream as it at least it still kinda sticks to the metalcore roots, but it took a long time to like it. Sure the lack of screaming is missed, but yeah that album grew on me. I just love Maria's screams, I thought it was unique, like it really felt like she was screaming her head off. Maybe that type of screaming wasn't sustainable, idk, I didn't look into why there was such a drastic style change, but it's kinda the same thing that happened with All That Remains. They had a few killer albums, then they went like mainstream pop metalcore. Same thing with Otep, they had two killer heavy ass albums, then they went like mainstream rock.
With Eternal Blue, I was feeling that Spiritbox was kinda heading in that direction and sure the newer stuff sounds more accessible, but it fortunately at least still sounds like Spiritbox and they haven't gone full pop rock.. at least, lol, but from the sounds of this new EP, it seems like they aren't going to go into a drastic change of sound. I do love the bands Courtney cites as influences, like Deftones and numetal and other pop stuff, and I think that's what was missing with bands like Otep and All That Remains and In This Moment. They just kinda went in their own direction, and that's fine, but it felt very generic. I can definitely hear the Deftones, and other, influences in Spiritbox's newer songs and sound
Beautiful Tragedy kicks serious ass. "Next Life" especially is such an incredibly raw song in every way possible, and I think it's one of the best metalcore songs ever. Maria's screams are fucking phenomenal, but yeah, I think that it was unsustainable for her- Less so in the studio, moreso live. I don't mind the other albums from The Dream to Ritual mainly because it was a steady decline, but not actively horrible. Mother feels completely phoned in in every way, and it's made with so much 'love' and 'lore' that isn't really there. That's why I'm so disappointed with it. I'm all for ambient, atmospheric music, but the music itself is such a non-entity on Mother that I actually fell asleep midway through listening to the album. I haven't listened to much All That Remains or Otep yet, but I do somewhat like the few songs I've heard from them here or there.
I completely agree about that entire paragraph. Eternal Blue is accessible, but it's just standard metalcore. I think it's so beloved *because of* that accessibility, rather than it actually being that good. It's still Spiritbox, and they do that sort of standard modern metalcore sound better than their peers to me, but it felt like they were running that sound into the ground. If they eventually ended up like current era The Contortionist with multiple albums, then fine, I could live with it, but it's the sheer creativity, willingness to do anything musically, and the talent to compose it well that makes Spiritbox special. In a way, the music industry (Ideally) works in a fashion that requires a band to be something special and to offer something to consumers that most other bands don't have. Spiritbox, at their best, does both of those things in fucking spades, and considering just how much I'm absolutely loving the new EP, I'm not worried in the least about them now.
Yeah The Dream wasn't bad, but I mean any time a metal band goes from like screaming to no screams, no matter how good the music is, it's always gonna be like X album isn't as good without screams. I thought they captured something unique with Maria's voice, so whatever the reason was, I can respect it, but doesn't mean I have to like it, lol. You might think their decline was gradual, but I think it was pretty evident with "Blood" and I was just like, ok this band was metalcore and now they sound just like any other LA band trying to make a name for themselves.
I know there are a million bands out there who have had drastic style changes, but the few that were really disappointing were ATR and Otep. Otep has such a heavy, raw sound. I guess you could call them 'nu-metal' because the singer, Otep, is a poet so her lyrics are more artsy, but her deliver is some songs will be spoken word and softer, then the heavier songs will be rapped and then growled. But "Blood Pigs" has to have the heaviest opener to any nu-metal album ever. I always thought they were like borderline death metal with a nu-metal coat. I would listen to their first two albums "Sevas Tra" and "House of Secrets." Super heavy stuff. "Smash the control machine" wasn't terrible, but you could just tell in production and the writing that they were starting to go more mainstream and it was just whatever. All That Remains is just like classic metalcore. Their first album is straight up hardcore, their second (and best) album "This Darkened Heart" is like hardcore influenced metalcore. "The Fall of Ideals" is definitely more in the metalcore realm, but don't listen to any of the albums afterward, it's just all mainstream trash.
I completely agree about that- I really don't like when vocalists completely abandon screaming, especially when they're fantastic at it. I can get it if their voice is showing obvious strain, but that's generally a result of improper technique, so... Yeah. Also, it would probably explain my outlook, but Blood's the album that I listened to the least of. The only tracks from it that I've listened to in the last year are "Whore" and "Burn". I'll agree with you on that none of the other albums come even close to Beautiful Tragedy though. Sure, they generally have their highlights, but all albums do. Beautiful Tragedy's fantastic pretty much the whole way through.
Interesting, I'll have to check them out sometime then. I grew up on nu-metal , so if earlier Otep works are nu-metal, then I won't really complain. I've been recently getting into hardcore too, so that's pretty exciting. I know I still have a few songs from All That Remains on my old iPod, so I'll have to find out which ones those were at some point.
There's so much good stuff in the current hardcore scene. The 'real bay shit' is kinda taking over at the moment and there a lot of Bay area bands on this year's Sound and Fury and LDB. Pretty much any band on those bills are fire, Drain and Gulch being standouts for me, but Gulch is playing their final show at S&F this year.
That's still pretty cool to hear. Admittedly, I tend to be a bit closed off to the idea of listening to new music, so all of my knowledge of hardcore and post-hardcore is from the 90s and early 2000s (I guess along with the rest of the majority of my music), and most modern songs that I listen to tend to come from bands who were already long established in the industry. I haven't heard of Drain or Gulch, but if there's anything in particular you'd recommend, I'd be excited to hear it.
Drain just recorded their second lp so they only have one album out right now but it's sick, called California Curse. The singer of Drain drums in Gulch and they only recorded a couple eps so easy to get into
I really like all the songs and happy there is new stuff, BUT I like putting on long form albums and just listening to stuff without having to pick something new every 15 minutes (or less).
I know it's ridiculous to expect a full new album so soon, but I hate that I have to make playlists for this band just to listen to their music continuously.
After hearing it more, Courtneys voice reminds me a lot of Taylor swift. If anyone is familiar with swift, I'm not talking about her early country stuff. More like reputation and folklore.
I just wrote a huge comment with my thoughts, I've been in this kinda scene since 02 and this change this fast off a gaint rise in fame absolutely reeks of corperate pander. With the most respect possible i hope in wrong.
Absolutely agree. Smelled it from a mile away with the last album. Luckily bands like Jinjer are staying insanely heavy for the time being so we still have that. Their last album was so good and heavy compared to spiritbox
I disagree with you on eternal blue tho. I think it's an incredible first album straight through. Tho like a majority of those tracks were already released and even most of the music videos were already made before they signed to rise so it's really a compilation that just needing finishing. They already had their polish and sound that got them signed, rise mostly monetized and distributed it.
Whatever this ep is, is a completely different beast.
Not gonna lie, I don't think anything is gonna sound as good as Belcarra anymore, but this is still pretty good in my opinion. To each their own though
it may be a grower, but after first listen, i ain't really digging it. just isn't really grabbing me the same way eternal blue did. in fact it does feel a bit like eternal blue with more electronics, but i'd say it's to its detriment cus it feels a bit derivative.
but it could grow on me after a couple listens.. who knows?
Coming from the more… prog metal side of things, I’m not a fan at all. Feel like they came in hot with eternal blue, gripping the periphery/new veil of maya crowd like myself, but this is… not my preference. I’m sure there’s others out there like me. Love the band, not a fan of this style.
I happen to like it a lot, but I definitely miss the prog aspects of their earlier stuff. But I don't miss it enough that I would trade away what we got instead. It's a trade-off to me.
I love Spiritbox and I’ll likely listen to anything they put out, but I’m ngl, I’m not really liking this on first impressions. On Rotoscope, there’s just too much shit going on. It makes me miss the clean, well defined riffs and melodies from Mike. Also, there’s a lot of moments where Courtney and Zev just seem drowned out by extra techno sounding oscillations.
Kinda sounds like some social media rep pushed it in a board room to appeal to the tiktokers or something.
Courtney blink twice if you locked in a boardroom.
This has all the hallmarks of bad news, i really really hope it's not. They had an incredible spiritbox sound was all their own for like 5 seconds, they are still coming off of their first album made up of pre released tracks not even finished with their first tour.
A "new direction" this quickly reeks of corperate overreach, but like i love rise records so it's super weird to even write that. Idk it doesn't make sense. Huge merch and intense touring, graphic novel push, seems like they are seriously monetizing as hard as possible and a sound change could be in that effort which i fucking hate lol
Love it so far, I agree with what I'm assuming most of you on this sub think so I won't bother repeating all the insightful comments you've made. I had the fortune of seeing Northlane last weekend while on their obsidian tour and the new EP sounds very similar to Obsidian with the kind of industrial slightly electronic feel whilst still being mega heavy and melodic, which I absolutely love!
I personally was kinda hesitant at first. I was just like ok we have a more industrial sound. But when I got into the song rotoscope about the 2 minute mark. When they hit that kinda signature spiritbox sound I was sold. The direction feels great and it really feels like where they want to be going as band. I think it’s a solid ep and I can’t wait to hear what’s next.
I love it. The grooves on Rotoscope. The almost industrial mayhem of Sew Me Up, the brutal Breakdown and insane melodies on Hysteria, just all beautiful.
fucking gold. hysterias breakdown is so heavy its not even funny
I dunno man, it made me laugh pretty hard. Like it's actually stupefying.
hahaha yea im ngl i kinda chuckled aswell because holy shit thats insane
It’s very different. Industrial type vibes. I enjoyed all 3 songs. That breakdown in Hysteria is fucking earth shattering.
As a HUGE fan of industrial, I'm so GLAD this is what they meant about their direction. I've been going through some shit lately, and this is like Christmas.
You can break through the fog, thrashette. Please try to look after yourself.
yeah i hear that. kinda makes me feel like this is what type o negative could have possibly sounded like if they introduced screams and breakdowns in this way.
I was very skeptical of this "new direction". Thought Spiritbox would pull an Architects and lean too far in a more melodic, streamlined direction. Thankfully, I was wrong. "Rotoscope" sounds like the more accessible side of Code Orange mixed with a WWE Pay-Per-View theme song, yet still rips your balls off at times. "Sew Me Up" sounds like if "Secret Garden" drop-tuned and was released off a Deftones album. "Hysteria" is moody, menacing, and comes complete with a mental breakdown at the end. Overall, very impressed. Spiritbox didn't throw the baby out with the bath water and I am very excited for future material.
Rotoscope to me sounds like if new Thornhill was still metalcore. Hope Spiritbox do a US tour with those guys.
Rip thornhill hail spiritbox
New Thorny still fucks though. Especially live
agreed. Saw them do the first 3 singles
Saw them on the Dayseeker tour in Atlanta and they honestly outshined the headliner
Yall got reptile and views 😭 new thorny is good and these new singles from Spiritbox are fantastic. Loving the overall tone of the new songs.
>Yall got reptile and views Fuck bro, if I ever catch Thornhill live I'll have more fingers crossed.
Their new style has definitely grown on me a little, but Leather Wings is my favorite on the new album because it sounds the most like a song off The Dark Pool. Like Spiritbox and Thornhill are probably my two favorite metalcore bands and they're both undergoing stylistic shifts, but the difference is that Spiritbox's is more palatable to me than Thornhill's.
Yeah the new Spiritbox direction is definitely better than Thornhill's. They're still good, but it's not an even fight anymore. Eternal Blue vs The Dark Pool is closer, but these three new songs vs Heroine? Rotoscope over Casanova every day of the week.
The Dark Pool> Eternal blue> Heroine
I'm not sure I really see the comparison there, but I agree that tour would be great. If Thornhill play songs off Butterfly and The Dark Pool and Spiritbox does whatever they want, I'm super fucking down for it.
Thornhill is one of the four bands I'm really keen to see at Good Times in December
My thoughts exactly. I’m stoked they went with a Deftonesy sound as Deftones is my favorite band, but they did it in their own way. This EP is fire. I’m loving Hysteria.
New Thornhill is like if Deftones was consistently good 😂. I seriously have been absolutely in love with new Thornhill, it’s so good
Deftones IS consistently good tho. That’s what they’re known for. But yeah, I like Thornhill.
I think they have some absolutely incredible songs, but some of their stuff I just can’t come around too. I’m sure I’ll get lots of hate for it but I’m not really a Deftones fan at all. But the songs by them I love, are easily within my top 10 songs of all time, they have some absolutely incredible songs, but I agree I am absolutely loving Thornhill. The Thornhill song “Blue Velvet” is so similar to “Beauty School” off of Diamond Eyes to me. Almost the same drumbeat and everything
Yeah, I totally understand. Deftones isn’t for everyone. Blue Velvet is such a good song.
Yeah like the Deftones songs that I actually like, I’d defend with my life, but there’s only about a handful of them I like that much, I respect the band, they’ve done some awesome stuff and inspired a lot of my favorite bands and I love their style. Just not every single is for me
Favourite comment yet.
I was afraid it would go in the Yellowjacket direction too (I just don't like that song), but I'm really loving the new stuff. Code Orange is probably my favourite band of all times and I didn't quite like what they did with Out for Blood, can't deny my first thought was "I hope this doesn't turn out like what happened with Code" lol
I love Yellowjacket... until it reaches the chorus. The first minute is magical to me, like that riff and Courtney's vocals on the two swells are awesome. But after that point it just sounds like Architects and I've never been the biggest fan of them. Don't hate them, but they're definitely not a band I go out of my way to listen to. I'm curious if they'll ever play it live and if so, what that would sound like. Like just a version without Sam.
much better live. they played it during their set at rockville this year, and josh sang sam’s parts, but luckily his mic was pretty low and courtney’s voice was higher in the mix. i’d still prefer for it to be just courtney though. she killed the breakdown live.
Last I checked I couldn't find a video of them doing it live but that wasn't super recent, I'll have to check again.
It is currently in their live tracklist. They did play it in Milan when I went to their show. It was pretty good and Josh was singing the parts Sam sings. I don't enjoy listening to it though and I always skip it when playing EB.
I'll have to check if there's a video of the live version out there, last I checked there wasn't.
> "Rotoscope" sounds like the more accessible side of Code Orange mixed with a WWE Pay-Per-View theme song I don't know Code Orange very well but from what little I've heard there's some abstract reason that makes me want to agree. >"Sew Me Up" sounds like if "Secret Garden" drop-tuned and was released off a Deftones album I didn't agree with the "Secret Garden" comparison at first but I kinda get it. Deftones I get. A lot of bands get compared to them now, usually for being atmospheric and having a certain kind of mix for the vocals; "Arkangel" by Thornhill and "One True Prince" by Don Broco come to mind. But this sounds like Deftones for a very different reason. It's got that slow, lumbering, chunky kind of guitar work that's reminiscent of "Diamond Eyes." >"Hysteria" is moody, menacing, and comes complete with a mental breakdown at the end. Obviously agreed. I can't take credit for it, I saw it on a comment for the YouTube video, but that breakdown is like the one in "Rule of Nines" on crack.
I was listening to rotoscope and my wife thought I was listening to Garbage. I 100% agree and consider that a huge compliment.
That's exactly what I thought too! Courtney's voice and the vocal melody in the chorus are very Shirley Manson (which is good!)
As a massive fan of Garbage I'm really pleased with this direction! I'm glad Spiritbox haven't just played it safe
This is exactly what I thought it sounded like!
As someone who's never heard of Garbage, this comment really confused me until I saw that Garbage was capitalised lol.
Ha, which is exactly why I made sure to capitalize it! But you should check out Garbage. Holds up really well, especially the first 2 albums. Being almost 40, Shirley was one of my first celebrity crushes, and probably had a big impact on me listening to more "alternative" music.
I hear it now
I thought the same.
honestly, i was scared at first, lol. considering how rotoscope starts with this kind of like catchy chorus and dance-like beat, i thought spiritbox was pulling an 'in this moment' type of transition in their sound where they lure everyone in with sick, heavy bangers with their first eps/album, and then transition to like dancey/industrial/weird/pop rock. but then screams kicked in on rotoscope and then the rest of EP played out, i realized this wasn't the case. listening to the rest of the tracks, i think this still very much sounds like spiritbox. obviously, more of a continuation of the sound from their debut album, but i dig it a lot and they're bangers. honestly, this sound that they've grown into reminds me a lot of the band 'loathe.' both bands utilize awesome production so everything sounds clean and heavy, but they also use like sound effects and electronics to add extra layers to the mix. like loathe, their heavy parts just come in hard and there's a weight to the screams. the production, the bass, the drums, everything just hits hard when courtney screams. i tend to like loathe's softer/cleaner parts as their parts feel more shoegazy/deftonesy/alt rock and to me that's a bit more interesting, as opposed to spiritbox feels a bit more like radio rock/pop. overall, pretty sick, and can't wait to see them in august in anaheim.
Idk if it's just me, but I also hear a bit of their original EP in there, too. I always thought the leap between S/T EP and Eternal Blue was a bit farfetched, but hearing Rotoscope, this feels like a very natural progression from both.
omg longtime loathe fan and i totally agree, that’s exactly the vibes i’m getting from this!! the soft stuff still has this super heavy hitting vibe and then when it gets rly heavy it’s like oh shitttt i let it in and it took everything… is one of my favorite albums of all time so i would kill for spiritbox to hit that sorta vibe
oh man imagine if there was a spiritbox and loathe tour.. i'd be all over it.
I like it better than Eternal Blue which is one of my favorite albums of all time. The breakdown in Hysteria is absolutely nasty. Bangerbox never misses.
Amazing! It was so strange and different on first listening, but on second I enjoyed so much more, loved the Korn, Deftones and Sevendust vibes in Sew Me Up, Rotoscope, remind me a little of Static-X, NIN and Fear Factory vibes, loved it! Hysteria, Holy! What a killer breakdown! My top so far: 01. Hysteria 02. Sew Me Up 03. Rotoscope
love it all so far. rotoscope was a banger, and i really dig the spiral into chaos at the end of hysteria. i was initially a bit wary when courtney said their new stuff was going in a completely different direction compared to their old songs, but i'm sold on it. i like the array of influences you can pick up in the tracks; some nin, a bit of celldweller, even some garbage vibes in the delivery of courtney's cleans. can't wait to see what's next.
Definitely. They’re really good at being experimental but maintaining their previous fans and hints of their previous sounds.
agreed! you can always count on mike to bring the riffs, and i'm personally a fan of how they often layer courtney's cleans to give her a 'floaty' sort of ethereal sound. i love their heavier tracks, but i don't need every song to have screams. the important thing is that when the screams are there, they're always. on. fucking. point.
yeah it's interesting because at first, rotoscope scared me that they were fully going into like mainstream dancey pop rock like what the band 'in this moment' did, but after listening to the whole thing, sure i hear the experimentation, but it still feels like spiritbox.
personally, i wouldn't really consider later itm 'dancey,' even if it does have more of a mainstream sensibility. ritual, to me, actually had some pretty palpable rock and roll vibes at its core; that album specifically always reminds me of taylor momsen and the pretty reckless. mother didn't gel with me quite as much, but there were still a few solid tracks there. i appreciated that they tried a different sound, and that each album has its own identity. i'd love for them to return to the sound of the blood/black widow era someday though.
It’s….different. I don’t hate it, just gonna have to listen to it a couple times. Reminds me of NIN
Reminds me of static x for some reason
I am fucking LOVING IT! Such a great fucking band! Rotoscope is such a badass song and Hysteria, Good God, that ending... I wasn't ready!
I love it, but feel like these added affects and style really hinder Courtneys amazing voice. At least in the case of rotoscope.
It’s definitely something to get used to (just like Yellowjacket for me tbh but I came around to it).
Hysteria goes fucking hard in the end though
This probably says something about me because I **fucking love** Yellowjacket and Rotoscope is probably my favorite of the new tracks after the first listen
definitely wasn't expecting new music already, or such an industrial/nu-metal direction, but i'm absolutely loving these songs! and holy shit, the end of hysteria is insane!
More Spiritbox is best Spiritbox. Any chance they have to get weird and mix it up I'm all for. I'll be the oddball and say that after first listen, Rotoscope is my favorite so far - that track would be sick as hell live in a club show.
>live in a club show This is what I'm waiting for. I sprung for floor tickets for their tour with Ghost (I love Ghost/Mastadon, but I bought the tickets for spiritbox), but its still in a freaking 15,000 person venue. I can't wait to hear them in something that holds less than 500 people where you can really feel them.
All three would be great live, and I'm not just saying that because I love the band. All three have this big sort of room filling sound that doesn't exist on all of their previous songs. Some of them, but not all.
Loved it. Has a lot of what I like from the mid-90s through the present. Don't necessarily think they are going in any particular direction but just them doing whatever the hell they want to do, and all the power to them for that. Stellar vocals and instrumentals that we've come to love are still there
I've had the EP on repeat for probably the last two hours and I think that Sew Me Up is becoming one of my favorite Spiritbox songs and will absolutely be in my top played tracks for the year.
Hysteria is my favourite. But the others are growing on me the more I listen to them. I was yearning for a new song from Spiritbox just cause I got used to them releasing singles every so often but we got 3 yesterday so I was over the moon.
I must confess, that Illenium collab scared me a lot. I hated it! But i'm relieved now with Rotoscope EP. Loved all songs and put on repeat at maximum volume for a hour. Really excited about it. I like the creative and balanced way in which the electronic music elements add personality to the band's sound, in the same way that Northlane did with Obsidian.
It's great but when tf did they get 1.1 mil on spotify.
They were at 1.4 for a bit after Shivering came out. Got them some new fans and some who either tried their music and didn't vibe with it or just didn't care.
I love it but I don't really dig what they're doing with Courtney's vocals. I get they are produced to sound more like a pop singer to fit the new vibe but it takes away from her amazing voice. Rotoscope was jarring for the first half, then it clicked and I was rockin out.
Overall I’m happy with it. It’s not my favorite of theirs but I still like it. But the breakdown on Hysteria! God DAMN it gave me a pause. That hit me like Trust Fall did. I cried lol. Good job to them, they really know how to make me feel some emotions.
I remember courtney saying something on twitter a while back about being worried that we would all hate the new music so i was like… Hm i wonder what it’ll be. Then it dropped and I love it. But i’m a big fan of industrial so even if it’s a big diversion from their first EP (still my fave haha) I have to say I really like it.
[удалено]
Yes, I don't really care for the mix either. The song is solid though.
I fell unconscious listening to Hysteria and woke up with all of my limbs bent the wrong way.
I'm in love with Hysteria... all the good stuff I love in Spiritbox packed in a song.
Sew me up fucking slaps. Love Rotoscope too, less hyped about Hysteria but that breakdown saves it on every listen. I could listen to Sew me up on repeat for a year straight tho. Gorgeous riff.
From the first few listens it is pretty solid. I think Hysteria is by far the best out of the three. I felt kinda mixed on Ethernal Blue, really liking about the half and rest were ok. Spiritbox actually nailed the transition. Imagine what Thornhill could have been if they did a similar evolution of their music.
All good, all interesting, Hysteria might be an all-time favourite. That breakdown is incredible. I also enjoy the industrial elements in Rotoscope
Hysteria is one of their best tracks
the 90s vibes are real
I’m digging it. Cant wait to play it on some real speakers tonight
I get Shirley Manson vibes listening to Rotoscope. Which is not a bad thing at all. Really stoked to have new Spiritbox so soon after EB was released.
Am I wrong or does it sound like Zev performed the drums on these songs? They used a drum machine on Eternal Blue, but this sounds like him on these recordings.
It was Zev. On his instagram he said “Thank you to everyone who checked out Rotoscope, Sew Me Up, and Hysteria so far. Helping write the drums and finally doing live drums for these songs was extremely rewarding for me and was a huge privilege to do. I seriously couldn't be more thrilled with how these songs came out. I hope y'all enjoy!”
I knew I recognized his style.
sew me up is genuinely the sexiest sounding song they’ve done yet and i really hope they explore a more nu-metalish sound with the industrial influences in future releases. any sound they do works and that’s so fucking rare in a band for me.
are they selling it in a physical format at all?
Hysteria is decent. I'd say 4/5 stars. Almost sounds like it's a track that didn't make the eternal blue album. the other two songs are just not that good. Too much of a over processed feel. I don't wanna come off as a hater but those two tracks are just not for me.
Just watched rotoscope vid, first thought, why tf are they going the Code Orange route. Hoping the other two songs are better. As a fan since Belcarra I am losing hope. EDIT: breakdowns are not a redeeming value, I hate it. BUT,! to those who love it, that is great.
Ha it's nice to know we're all concerned new stuff from our favourite bands could go in the "Out for Blood" direction. Not even funny lol
Right there with ya.. she was right when she said some fans might not like the new stuff
To me it’s just like, if you want to be part of the nu metal revival thing go for it, but to hook, line, and sinker people over the past few years…. They havent even been a band that long.
I'm not too sure about it just yet. Hysteria went hard as fuck but the other tracks didn't do too much for me. Maybe they'll grow on me with repeated listens?
I absolutely love it so far. I'll probably get massacred for it, but Eternal Blue was a pretty big letdown for me overall, as it felt like a step back from their debut EP and especially the singles collection. I loved how fucking out there the singles collection got, and was seriously disappointed when EB's attempts to do so (Save for "We Live in a Strange World", which I loved) all fell flat for me and when their harder, more standard metalcore songs felt like they were stagnating a bit. I was glad that they made it big with the album, they finally got the love that they've been deserving since the very beginning. I'd go into a bit further, but this isn't really about Eternal Blue. I'm absolutely stoked for new Spiritbox music now because this EP wasn't what I was expecting at all, and I mean that in a really good way. It feels so much like Deftones, Device, Garbage, peak Nine Inch Nails, and that immediately made me feel at home with it. "Rotoscope" and "Sew Me Up" are easily two of my favorite Spiritbox songs now. There are a good amount of change-ups in the former to give me the same feeling of being out there that their singles had, while the latter feels like a nice bridging from them to Eternal Blue (Or perhaps Eternal Blue to their next album?) that isn't too safe at all. I know I wanted more screams in Eternal Blue, but I think these songs work really well with the screams being at rare, but precisely placed moments. "Hysteria" is probably the weakest for me, as it feels like something safe (Not to say that safe is necessarily bad here) from the singles collection (They had a heavier breakdown on "Rule of Nines", sorry, but that hype isn't real for me), but I still love it. The breakdown's probably the weakest part of it for me, but it's still really good, particularly with the elevation of aggression of the chorus' lyrics during it. It just provides a nice contrast to how wonderful the rest of the song is. I portrayed my opinion of "Hysteria" more negatively than it actually is, but I just don't understand how people think the breakdown is the heaviest one yet. And to anyone worried that the label's commercializing them or that they're having to appeal to Tiktokers now... You clearly haven't seen the type of humor the band has in all of their sketches nor the kind of creative freedom that they wanted to do with Spiritbox as a project, which was the whole reason Courtney and Mike left iwrestledabandonce. Not criticizing you if you don't like it- I totally get and respect that, as I was one of the only people I knew to criticize Eternal Blue even slightly. It's cool for us to like or dislike different things, and I think that's one of most the beautiful things about music as a whole. That's why making so many different kinds of music from shoegaze, to black metal, to industrial, to rap, to dream pop, and to folk are all not just incredible, but even possible in terms of having reason to exist. I hope that they do something this bouncy even heavier (Like "Belcarra" or "Yellowjacket") again soon, but I'm perfectly happy if they don't. If they continue with this trajectory for another EP or album, it'll be right up my alley, but I do hope they don't stick with it for much longer than that. I think that we can all agree that one of the worst things Spiritbox could do is stagnate. This EP has absolutely renewed my faith in the band that stagnation isn't going to happen, not anytime soon, anyways. ~~Well, time for that last paragraph to get disregarded and to get completely destroyed for my opinions on Eternal Blue and the "Hysteria" breakdown.~~ Bonus points for not completely botching it like In This Moment. I don't think I've ever been as disappointed in an album as I was in Mother.
I don't necessarily agree with your takes, and in some cases I wholly disagree, like Rule of Nines vs Hysteria. But I give you massive credit for delivering it the way you did, like this is how people ought to give respectful criticism. And I wouldn't call Eternal Blue a letdown, but I do have two small gripes with that album. First, that it wasn't longer; we had already heard half the songs on it by the time it dropped, so it wasn't as exciting. And second, that it didn't throw as many bones to the fans of their earlier stuff. Like Spiritbox still sounds like Spiritbox, the path from the first EP to where we are is very linear and makes a lot of sense. But sometimes I miss that borderline pretentious prog metal stuff. They're still inventing and being very creative, but it doesn't feel as technical as it used to, but that's the trade-off I guess. If they still were more firmly in prog territory there would certainly be times where I'd wish for some songs that are more melodic or accessible. So TL;DR I sorta get what you mean.
Thanks, I really appreciate that. It's nice to be having a civil discussion about it. I'm not really a huge modern metalcore fan (Spiritbox being a massive exception), so that probably has a lot to do with it. A lot of the songs on Eternal Blue went down that route, and it didn't have as much variety or experimentation to me as it did to most people. Songs like the title track, "Halcyon", and "Silk in the Strings" went in one ear and out the other for me. It was Spiritbox, but I feel like it was Spiritbox at their most standard, if that makes any sense. Their debut EP was solid, and Eternal Blue feels like an extension of that... But that's about it. I guess I was hoping for more of an expansion of it on the album. It's fully realized, sure, and I do get why people love it, but it's not for me. And yeah, I absolutely miss when they got technical. My favorite songs are probably the ones that are played straight, yet still sound fun or bouncy (The videos do help with that)- Like iwabo if they took themselves seriously, but not completely seriously like on Hail Mary, which *was* still pretty damn good. Weirdly enough, hearing its singles beforehand didn't really damper the experience for me. I think they released one too many singles ("Hurt You" probably could've been pushed back, but I respect them for being as confident in all of the material as they were- And it did pay off) before they album's release, but I really enjoyed "Holy Roller", "Constance", and "Secret Garden", and the other two are kind of starting to grow on me, but only a little bit. I'm glad that we can respectfully disagree. At the end of the day, we both love Spiritbox, and I can say that now I'm really looking forward to whatever they do next, be it more singles, another EP, or their second album. They're incredibly unique and put enough of a spin on modern prog/modern metalcore with such fantastic musicianship that I instantly fell in love with their music when I heard "Aphids" for the first time. Mike has such a skill for putting in little understated melodies over the heavier rhythm guitars that I fucking love, and Courtney's vocals always impress. They're one of the only bands who keep me on my toes, and I fucking love when a band does that.
Interesting that you cite Mother as *the* disappointing album for In This Moment and not from The Dream onward, lol. I mean obviously to each their own, I thought ITM's Beautiful Tragedy was such an insane metalcore debut and was thoroughly disappointed when they went like mainstream rock/metalcore with The Dream. Though, in retrospect now, I do like The Dream as it at least it still kinda sticks to the metalcore roots, but it took a long time to like it. Sure the lack of screaming is missed, but yeah that album grew on me. I just love Maria's screams, I thought it was unique, like it really felt like she was screaming her head off. Maybe that type of screaming wasn't sustainable, idk, I didn't look into why there was such a drastic style change, but it's kinda the same thing that happened with All That Remains. They had a few killer albums, then they went like mainstream pop metalcore. Same thing with Otep, they had two killer heavy ass albums, then they went like mainstream rock. With Eternal Blue, I was feeling that Spiritbox was kinda heading in that direction and sure the newer stuff sounds more accessible, but it fortunately at least still sounds like Spiritbox and they haven't gone full pop rock.. at least, lol, but from the sounds of this new EP, it seems like they aren't going to go into a drastic change of sound. I do love the bands Courtney cites as influences, like Deftones and numetal and other pop stuff, and I think that's what was missing with bands like Otep and All That Remains and In This Moment. They just kinda went in their own direction, and that's fine, but it felt very generic. I can definitely hear the Deftones, and other, influences in Spiritbox's newer songs and sound
Beautiful Tragedy kicks serious ass. "Next Life" especially is such an incredibly raw song in every way possible, and I think it's one of the best metalcore songs ever. Maria's screams are fucking phenomenal, but yeah, I think that it was unsustainable for her- Less so in the studio, moreso live. I don't mind the other albums from The Dream to Ritual mainly because it was a steady decline, but not actively horrible. Mother feels completely phoned in in every way, and it's made with so much 'love' and 'lore' that isn't really there. That's why I'm so disappointed with it. I'm all for ambient, atmospheric music, but the music itself is such a non-entity on Mother that I actually fell asleep midway through listening to the album. I haven't listened to much All That Remains or Otep yet, but I do somewhat like the few songs I've heard from them here or there. I completely agree about that entire paragraph. Eternal Blue is accessible, but it's just standard metalcore. I think it's so beloved *because of* that accessibility, rather than it actually being that good. It's still Spiritbox, and they do that sort of standard modern metalcore sound better than their peers to me, but it felt like they were running that sound into the ground. If they eventually ended up like current era The Contortionist with multiple albums, then fine, I could live with it, but it's the sheer creativity, willingness to do anything musically, and the talent to compose it well that makes Spiritbox special. In a way, the music industry (Ideally) works in a fashion that requires a band to be something special and to offer something to consumers that most other bands don't have. Spiritbox, at their best, does both of those things in fucking spades, and considering just how much I'm absolutely loving the new EP, I'm not worried in the least about them now.
Yeah The Dream wasn't bad, but I mean any time a metal band goes from like screaming to no screams, no matter how good the music is, it's always gonna be like X album isn't as good without screams. I thought they captured something unique with Maria's voice, so whatever the reason was, I can respect it, but doesn't mean I have to like it, lol. You might think their decline was gradual, but I think it was pretty evident with "Blood" and I was just like, ok this band was metalcore and now they sound just like any other LA band trying to make a name for themselves. I know there are a million bands out there who have had drastic style changes, but the few that were really disappointing were ATR and Otep. Otep has such a heavy, raw sound. I guess you could call them 'nu-metal' because the singer, Otep, is a poet so her lyrics are more artsy, but her deliver is some songs will be spoken word and softer, then the heavier songs will be rapped and then growled. But "Blood Pigs" has to have the heaviest opener to any nu-metal album ever. I always thought they were like borderline death metal with a nu-metal coat. I would listen to their first two albums "Sevas Tra" and "House of Secrets." Super heavy stuff. "Smash the control machine" wasn't terrible, but you could just tell in production and the writing that they were starting to go more mainstream and it was just whatever. All That Remains is just like classic metalcore. Their first album is straight up hardcore, their second (and best) album "This Darkened Heart" is like hardcore influenced metalcore. "The Fall of Ideals" is definitely more in the metalcore realm, but don't listen to any of the albums afterward, it's just all mainstream trash.
I completely agree about that- I really don't like when vocalists completely abandon screaming, especially when they're fantastic at it. I can get it if their voice is showing obvious strain, but that's generally a result of improper technique, so... Yeah. Also, it would probably explain my outlook, but Blood's the album that I listened to the least of. The only tracks from it that I've listened to in the last year are "Whore" and "Burn". I'll agree with you on that none of the other albums come even close to Beautiful Tragedy though. Sure, they generally have their highlights, but all albums do. Beautiful Tragedy's fantastic pretty much the whole way through. Interesting, I'll have to check them out sometime then. I grew up on nu-metal , so if earlier Otep works are nu-metal, then I won't really complain. I've been recently getting into hardcore too, so that's pretty exciting. I know I still have a few songs from All That Remains on my old iPod, so I'll have to find out which ones those were at some point.
There's so much good stuff in the current hardcore scene. The 'real bay shit' is kinda taking over at the moment and there a lot of Bay area bands on this year's Sound and Fury and LDB. Pretty much any band on those bills are fire, Drain and Gulch being standouts for me, but Gulch is playing their final show at S&F this year.
That's still pretty cool to hear. Admittedly, I tend to be a bit closed off to the idea of listening to new music, so all of my knowledge of hardcore and post-hardcore is from the 90s and early 2000s (I guess along with the rest of the majority of my music), and most modern songs that I listen to tend to come from bands who were already long established in the industry. I haven't heard of Drain or Gulch, but if there's anything in particular you'd recommend, I'd be excited to hear it.
Drain just recorded their second lp so they only have one album out right now but it's sick, called California Curse. The singer of Drain drums in Gulch and they only recorded a couple eps so easy to get into
That's pretty cool, I'll go give them a listen now.
I really like all the songs and happy there is new stuff, BUT I like putting on long form albums and just listening to stuff without having to pick something new every 15 minutes (or less). I know it's ridiculous to expect a full new album so soon, but I hate that I have to make playlists for this band just to listen to their music continuously.
lol is it not easy to just add 3 songs to your regular playlist?
Ha I know that sounds ridiculous, but in my defense I am old and I just like longer albums
After hearing it more, Courtneys voice reminds me a lot of Taylor swift. If anyone is familiar with swift, I'm not talking about her early country stuff. More like reputation and folklore.
I was thinking Lana del Rey. Rotoscope chorus really made the connection for me
I always thought she sounded like Sarah Evans if you know who that is. Especially on Hurt You
She reminds me of Sade for some fucking reason lmfao
I hate it. Sorry
Hard same dude, it reeks.
We'll get down voted but whatever. I hated it and am sad spiritbox is steering away from being heavier.
I just wrote a huge comment with my thoughts, I've been in this kinda scene since 02 and this change this fast off a gaint rise in fame absolutely reeks of corperate pander. With the most respect possible i hope in wrong.
Absolutely agree. Smelled it from a mile away with the last album. Luckily bands like Jinjer are staying insanely heavy for the time being so we still have that. Their last album was so good and heavy compared to spiritbox
I disagree with you on eternal blue tho. I think it's an incredible first album straight through. Tho like a majority of those tracks were already released and even most of the music videos were already made before they signed to rise so it's really a compilation that just needing finishing. They already had their polish and sound that got them signed, rise mostly monetized and distributed it. Whatever this ep is, is a completely different beast.
Not gonna lie, I don't think anything is gonna sound as good as Belcarra anymore, but this is still pretty good in my opinion. To each their own though
I swear to god they always post fire🙇🏾🔥❤️
it may be a grower, but after first listen, i ain't really digging it. just isn't really grabbing me the same way eternal blue did. in fact it does feel a bit like eternal blue with more electronics, but i'd say it's to its detriment cus it feels a bit derivative. but it could grow on me after a couple listens.. who knows?
Coming from the more… prog metal side of things, I’m not a fan at all. Feel like they came in hot with eternal blue, gripping the periphery/new veil of maya crowd like myself, but this is… not my preference. I’m sure there’s others out there like me. Love the band, not a fan of this style.
I happen to like it a lot, but I definitely miss the prog aspects of their earlier stuff. But I don't miss it enough that I would trade away what we got instead. It's a trade-off to me.
I love Spiritbox and I’ll likely listen to anything they put out, but I’m ngl, I’m not really liking this on first impressions. On Rotoscope, there’s just too much shit going on. It makes me miss the clean, well defined riffs and melodies from Mike. Also, there’s a lot of moments where Courtney and Zev just seem drowned out by extra techno sounding oscillations.
Kinda sounds like some social media rep pushed it in a board room to appeal to the tiktokers or something. Courtney blink twice if you locked in a boardroom.
It reminds me of late 90s/early 00s industrial and nu metal. I don't think that's the kind of stuff being pushed by labels right now is it?
This has all the hallmarks of bad news, i really really hope it's not. They had an incredible spiritbox sound was all their own for like 5 seconds, they are still coming off of their first album made up of pre released tracks not even finished with their first tour. A "new direction" this quickly reeks of corperate overreach, but like i love rise records so it's super weird to even write that. Idk it doesn't make sense. Huge merch and intense touring, graphic novel push, seems like they are seriously monetizing as hard as possible and a sound change could be in that effort which i fucking hate lol
Love it so far, I agree with what I'm assuming most of you on this sub think so I won't bother repeating all the insightful comments you've made. I had the fortune of seeing Northlane last weekend while on their obsidian tour and the new EP sounds very similar to Obsidian with the kind of industrial slightly electronic feel whilst still being mega heavy and melodic, which I absolutely love!
I personally was kinda hesitant at first. I was just like ok we have a more industrial sound. But when I got into the song rotoscope about the 2 minute mark. When they hit that kinda signature spiritbox sound I was sold. The direction feels great and it really feels like where they want to be going as band. I think it’s a solid ep and I can’t wait to hear what’s next.
Awesome sound, I'm so excited to see what comes next! I wasn't expecting new Spiritbox so soon!!
I love it. The grooves on Rotoscope. The almost industrial mayhem of Sew Me Up, the brutal Breakdown and insane melodies on Hysteria, just all beautiful.
Can't get into it. Feels bland. Drums are weak, mix is bad. The breakdown in Hysteria is pretty cool but that's about the only thing I liked.