Rising Insane – Afterglow
Release Date: 10th December 2021
Label: Long Branch Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Metalcore
FFO: While She sleeps, Landmvrks, Parkway Drive.
Review By: Calvin Ryan
Following up a record like Porcelain was going to be something to work hard to achieve, as that album is an absolute belter. Afterglow however rises to the occasion and builds upon the former album and sets the band on the path to their success. Lyrically, Afterglow is an immense album, detailing the pain of post-traumatic stress disorder among other things. As bleak as that does sound, it’s actually quite cathartic to listen too. Knowing that there’s something out there to match yourself always helps.
Opener, and title track, Afterglow, starts with the grisly voice of vocalist Aaron Steineker, as the band then burst into motion. Guitarists Sven Polizuk & Florian Köchy create chugs lower than the Mariana Trench, while the machine gun drumming of Robert Kühling creates a background noise so devastating you’ll sometimes think it’s a drum machine and not a human.
Meant To Live is a slow burner, but as soon as it kicks in it doesn’t let up. The same could be said about War, but I’d be absolutely lying. It’s heavy from the off and is one of the darker tracks. Flightless Bird is as heavy as it is melodic, and those two go hand in hand together to create a beautiful marriage of sounds. Serenade & Oxygen are both slow builders, but they’re worth the wait for them to kick in as they’re both more of the sing-along songs of the album but are as heavy as the rest in some aspects.
By the time you reach the eighth song, The Surface, you begin to notice the band sound a bit like While She Sleeps in the slower guitar melodies, which isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it adds to the albums sound and when Something Inside Of Me creeps in you can really see the inspiration from WSS. As that may be, they’ve taken their own twist to it, with the gripping voice of Steinker ripping through the band as they create the best song on the album.
The final three songs, Broken Homes, Bend and Break & Imprisoned go hand in hand as they create the conclusion to the album which has been decimating your ears from the start. It’s a brilliant follow up from the band. And with the success of The Weeknd’s cover of Blinding Lights has propelled them further into the spotlight, this album will make them known to a more wide range as their diverse style, while still needs work to be perfect, is exactly what the band need to grip hold of audiences.
(3.5 / 5)
