Metal Band of the Week:

This or the Apocalypse

October 24, 2009 by Kyle Brady
Tags: Band, Metal, Music, Review, This or the Apocalypse
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Misery Signals and Lamb of God – these are two bands not often associated with each other, let alone mentioned in the same sentence; however, a blending of these two bands is the best way to begin to describe the budding band known as This or the Apocalypse.  If Misery Signals had retained all of their brutality as they began to experiment with so-called progressive hardcore, they would sound much like This or the Apocalypse, so long as the vocalist takes their cues more from Randy Blythe than Karl Schubach or Jesse Zaraska.

There is no doubt that This or the Apocalypse is a hardcore band, albeit on the progressive end, but what makes them so compelling and musically interesting is the use of other elements in their sound without straying so far from their chosen genre as to become something else:  riff-based melodies, often eliciting strong emotions, are placed alongside the brutal, chugging rhythms that is requisite to be a hardcore band; harmonized guitars and expert use of breakdowns bring to mind metalcore bands such as Unearth; and the musical prowess so often lacking in hardcore bands is on extreme display, as if This or the Apocalypse is trying to out-do Trivium without using any extensive solos.

The groove-ready, carefully crafted, mindblowing music of the five young musicians that make up This or the Apocalypse is, without a doubt, a preview of the coming revolution in the metal scene.  As the former wave of youngblood revolutionaries have aged, their sounds have strongly influenced what the community gravitates towards and, sadly, eventually became stereotypically replicated – these are the Trivium’s, As I Lay Dying’s, Killswitch Engage’s, and Lamb of God’s of the world.  The future, as always, lays in the hands of the younger generation, and it seems that This or the Apocalypse is intent on becoming one of the driving forces of the scene in the years to come, to the benefit of metalheads worldwide.

This or the Apocalypse is currently on tour within the United States, and can be found on MySpace; their most recent release from Lifeforce Records, “Monuments”, can be found on Amazon [CD] [MP3], and their previous full-length album, “Sentinels”, along with their EP, can be presumably found elsewhere.

"Metal Band of the Week" is a weekly series, published on Saturdays, showcasing metal bands that get less attention than they deserve.
Kyle can be found on Twitter and MySpace, or reached via email.