Days Like TheseWide Awake

The debut EP Wide Awake from Brisbane up and comers Days Like These showcases a side of metalcore that most musicians are too scared to dabble in.

MORE: EXCLUSIVE ALBUM PREMIERE: Dr Colossus // REDHOOK: Bad Apples, Bad Decisions and Great Tunes // GOJIRA: ThePower and the Passion // VOID OF VISION: Something Old, Something New REVIEWS: REDHOOK: Bad Decisions // DROPKICK MURPHYS: Turn Up That Dial // ROYAL BLOOD: Typhoons // GOJIRA: Fortitude // CLOWNS: Does It Matter? // THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES: When God Was Great

For a genre that primarily relies on each song following a similar structure; (heavy opening and verse, clean chorus, and then repeat that until the breakdown …) Wide Awake instead highlights a forward thinking and genre bending approach to metalcore.

Impressively, one of the main aspects responsible for this is the group’s use of clean vocals, which never feel forced. If they are in the song, they are the driving force of the song; instead of just adding a pop driven chorus in the hopes of gaining more radio play (as so many do). Tracks like Inflection and Gravity rely entirely on a more spacious and softer approach, with moments being so enigmatic that you almost forget the group is actually heavy. 

For a debut EP, Days Like These have absolutely killed it.

But then, you are dosed with breakdowns like in Dissociate and Honey, which sees Callen Batson deliver a similar abrasive ferocity as vocalists like Eyes Set To Kill’s Corey Pattakos. Rounding up the EP is High and Glow a Thornhill-esque track which delivers a rhythm section with a descending feeling … as if you are falling down a wormhole whilst Days Like These are soundtracking it. For a debut EP, Days Like These have absolutely killed it. Although their reliance on cleans may not be as much of a selling point for the headbangers, the groups unique use of instrumentation will add enough of a heavy sound to keep metalheads of any genre interested.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Dissociate, Honey, High and Glow
STICK THIS NEXT TO: Eyes Set To Kill, Belle Haven, Thornhill