Old State and The ‘Weight’ Of It All.
Old State – St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
For our previous work on the band – Click Here.
To say that St. Louis emotives have changed a lot of their three-ish years as a band is an understatement. The collective Old State have undergone a number of stylistic changes since their debut Leaving Home in 2014 where their heavy but melodic and at times quite dulcet Pop-Punk/Emo/Alternative Rock crossover first pricked my personal attention. Fast forward to 2016 and Perspectives played with just a bit more of the hinted Post-Hardcore of its predecessor but this time with the sophomore release sounding both like a different band entirely and a substantially more “grown up” rendition simultaneously.
However, it’s now the tail end of 2017 and the four-track Weight is very much that both musically and lyrically. The band continue their brutally honest, emotive and heart-on-their-sleeve approach as they again mature further down the lines of moody Alternative music.
‘Brick and Mortar’ battles emotional confusion and uncertainty as Old State slowly ebb from a softer sound into something slow and cumbersome that sits somewhere between the heavier end of 2000’s Emo and Crimson-era Alkaline Trio.
This first track is nothing but emotive and the slower but still really quite intense Alternative Rock output would be nothing without its stellar lead guitar work and heartfelt vocals. ‘Dream Eater (TM 42)’ despite the light hearted reference to a tiny pixelated screen we all spent hours on plays with the intensity of the release thus far, as the band flip from slow-to-mid tempo and harder jagged riffs to tuneful Pop-Punk-esque melodies that have spent some time feeling “a bit sad”.
The eponymous ‘Weight’ provides a similar structure as the slow riff-work becomes all the more common as much as it doesn’t. The band in arguably classic Post-Hardcore fashion stop-start between soaring melodies and sharp precise strings. There is a lot going on in ‘Weight’ but it doesn’t feel too much and the band don’t fall prey to that tempting thought of taking their obvious and listed progressive influences a little too far.
‘Mess’ closes and it is fair to say that it isn’t the most cheerful of tracks. This final track in this instalment of the Old State saga makes use of harder vocals and teases at fast aggressive Post-Hardcore with guitar work and anticipation as the band move closer to a different catharsis.
You are left to ebb away the very same way you were introduced to Weight and left in wonder at what will come next. This is an ever-changing Old State and as they move away from their beginnings they quite rightly leave a faint trail incase of any need to revisit. The production and mixing of this record is also of some serious note as the music would not be hitting as hard as it does and each band member would not be heard so well if this wasn’t to such a standard.
To whatever is next.
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