VirtuesDouble Think (Single)

Brisbane metalcore favourites Virtues are following up on their hit EP Noting Grows from earlier this year with a headbanging new track, Double Think.

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Recorded in the midst of lockdown, Virtues took the DIY approach on this latest single, tracking the majority of this thrashing track all by themselves. However, the recording isn’t the only COVID-affected aspect of Double Think; with singer Wade Felsch explaining that the new track about questioning authority and finding our own truths comes straight from the mind of the pandemic.

“Doublethink was born out of the current COVID-19 hoax thinking, which mirrors a lot of what George Orwell was explaining in his book, 1984. The only difference is that he was wrong about how bad it would get. Wake up and research and come to your own conclusions, never regurgitate. Love is the only truth and secrets, the only currency.”

Double Think is a clear sign that Virtues aren’t slowing it down for anyone, not even with a pandemic in the way.

Opening up on a fast, plucky riff and some cheeky cymbal crashes, the track quickly breaks through into a fast and heavy metalcore rager. Felsch’s vocals take a que from Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, with the tracks instrumentals both giving weigh to his heavy growls while offering a few more surprises of their own. Though much of the song has a new-age, metal feeling to it through its bass-y, down-tuned instrumentals, the song’s quick and jumpy opening riff that carries through for most of the track feels more hardcore-punk inspired, like a young Every Time I Die.

The short and fast track manages to keep up its intensity until the final few seconds, with a brief but sweet, slow breakdown to usher listeners into a quiet fadeout; ending the track just in time to make sure it hasn’t over stayed it’s welcome, while still leaving listeners wanting more. Another solid effort from the local legends, Double Think is a clear sign that Virtues aren’t slowing it down for anyone, not even with a pandemic in the way.

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