Never underestimate the power of a riff. That’s the secret to the success of wars’ debut album ‘We Are Islands, After All’. At the heart of it, this is the standard sing/scream style post-hardcore that you’ve heard several times before, but the inclusion of relentless, crunching riffs gives the band a distinctive edge that adds something memorable to the mix.
‘The Art of Not Knowing’ and ‘Snows and Skies’ waste no time bombarding you with this signature characteristic. The core riffs demand movement from your body through pure reflex alone; as Rob Vicars’ screamed vocals add to the aggression, don’t be alarmed to find your hands instinctively balling into fists and your head banging forcefully along with the stomping drum patterns.
To stop you doing any permanent damage to yourself, Sam Barnard balances these aggressive outbursts with melodic moments. It’s a given in modern post-hardcore to have melodic vocals in the choruses and at their best, Barnard’s vocals offer a welcome contrast to Vicars’ punishing screams. ‘Still Waters Run Deep’ and ‘Salt Flat Sailing’ emphasise the quality of Barnard’s voice; here, the clean melodies are in context and flow seamlessly from the heavier sections, however on ‘Soul-Sick’ and ‘That By Discord Things Increase’, the choruses seem forced in order to satisfy a formula, rather than being necessary additions to the songs. The melodic vocals are effective at adding variation and if those moments were picked more cleverly, the band would be able to fully capitalise on the change in tone and mood, to prevent song structures becoming predictable.
These vocal adjustments would be simply be icing on the cake for wars because at the core of ‘We Are Islands, After All’ is a series of blisteringly heavy riffs that demand attention (and as much volume as you can muster). The distinctive guitar and rhythm patterns make this record addictive and will no doubt be staggering in a live setting. This is an accomplished debut album that introduces wars as a highly talented unit and with a bit more variation in song structure and vocal delivery, they’ll be a force as powerful as their pulsating riffs.
MARK JOHNSON