Banks ArcadeDEATH 2 (EP)

Death is only the beginning for self-described “metal boy band” Banks Arcade and their brand new EP DEATH 2.

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While the Melbourne-based group have always been ones to dip their musical toes into all things heavy-meets-electronic, a la Northlane in an apocalyptic rave, it’s on the band’s newest material that the world has been given an amplified chance to see the true potential of this group, beyond confines and with zero external expectations hindering proceedings.

In fact, Banks Arcade themselves have hinted in their recent press material that DEATH 2 would potentially be the last time they would tread into such visceral and chaotically dark sonic waters, with the group seemingly utilising this EP as a sharpened palette cleanser between their debut album Future Lovers and the open-ended future beyond 2024.

Volatile, occasionally bombastic, and compellingly condensed into a tight six-track package, DEATH 2 feels like Banks Arcade are truly warming up for something massive yet to come.

Boasting six tracks, there’s never a dull moment throughout DEATH 2, from the sensuous and flickering menace of its opening track Worship The Internet, through to the, at times, sparsely futuristic Sentimental, the cacophonous bounce of Roulette, and the industrial, metalcore mutant that is More Want. And amid the measured glitches and scathing textures, Banks Arcade also flex and flow with moments of melodic wizardry, with vocalist Joshua O’Donnell putting on a chameleonic display via Killing Games before proceedings are stripped down to some anthemic and eerie melancholia with DEATH 2’s closer Change.

With DEATH 2 ultimately, it’s clear that Banks Arcade are firmly in a state of innovative flux, painstakingly working to shape their core sound and aesthetic into something that is entirely their own; but that’s not to say that DEATH 2 doesn’t offer some extremely positive hints as to where the band will head to next. Whether they lean into more glamorous allure like labelmates Thornhill or dive into elements of hip hop, electro and beyond, it’s refreshing to hear a band adjacent to metalcore willing to push with and also beyond their peers while establishing some new ground rules outside of the usual influences that often permeate younger bands coming up in the scene. Volatile, occasionally bombastic, and compellingly condensed into a tight six-track package, DEATH 2 feels like Banks Arcade are truly warming up for something massive yet to come. 

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DEATH 2 is out Friday 2 February via UNFD.