Picking up where The Receiving End Of Sirens left off (Fitting that both bands are from Massachusetts), Lions Lions unveil their debut album To Carve Our Names, out now through Hollywood Waste/Century Media. Featuring original Vanna drummer Brandon Davis on guitar, Lions Lions is a stark contrast to today’s typical metalcore fare. As one gets deeper into To Carve Our Names, that statement becomes more apparent but the threads are there even at the beginning especially the atmospherics that play out on “Stable As Stone” amidst vocalist Joshua Herzer’s screams.
Songs like “Milestones” stylistically tread the metalcore line but share more with TREOS then say, Underoath or Vanna even. Lions Lions have strong melodies going for them from the onset of TCON and the songwriting gets better and better from the opening onward. “The Undertow”, for example, is the complete opposite of “Milestones” with a great hook in the chorus to reel listeners in and then the aforementioned “Stable As Stone” manages to turn heads again and bring the heavy riffing.
By the time a song like “Losing Balance” comes along halfway through, listeners will definitely hear what sets Lions Lions apart from the rest. “Rescue” is a different monster altogether with a heaviness not yet heard and later still, closer “Our Colors” is a fitting piano/acoustic-driven number with a string section complementing the layered vox that exquisitely offsets the rest of the album.
To Carve Our Names is available now through Century Media.
Grade: B+