Echoes of a [Not so]-Distant Tide

Pigeonholing bands into ever-smaller sub-genre classifications is limiting and a gross over-simplification; we know this. But it’s also a very helpful tool to describe music to someone who hasn’t heard it yet, to get as close to as possible without embarrassing yourself and everyone around you with your humming and singing skills. Yes, of course, each band is their own special snowflake.

With that in mind, my brain instantly came up with “atmospheric hardcore” to describe Echoes, a UK-based band whose album initially piqued my interest simply because I like the Pink Floyd song of the same name. Not that I think they’d mind that label: I later realized that the press release we received about them uses it too. Not that “atmospheric hardcore” is a super-revolutionary of a term to begin with.

The Pursuit is their very first album album, and holy shit, what a doozy for a brand new outfit. If you dig atmospheric metal that uses cinematic build-up and ambient guitarscapes (Russian Circles, If These Trees Could Talk, etc) and you also like hardcore-style vocals you’re definitely gonna love this. The album comes out on July 22nd via Universal Warning Records and can be ordered here. Jam it in full below.