ACRES- Acres
The formula here might be familiar- South coast quintet Acres mould their post-metal mini-epics from slow-motion riffs, soaring melodies and raw emotion- but the end results are rare indeed. Sure, they do everything you’d expect from a band citing Devil Sold His Soul and This Will Destroy You as influences, they colour inside the lines, but they’re also blessed with wily, bold and inventive edges. As with the explosive introduction to ‘Something To Write Home About’, set to destroy the inner ears of headphone users everywhere, or the nimble-fingered bass notes in ‘Letters’, the boys in the band regularly elevate standard fare to something special and it’s hard to believe this is their debut outing.
But perhaps it takes a new band with new ideas to be like this. To embrace post-hardcore structures or punk vocals or drums with drive, and to inject a little energy into the most sedate of genres. You can practically hear the band brainstorming, figuring out what else they could melt into the mix. Acres are a long way from the top of their field and there’s a hell of a lot of competition ahead of them but at least there are ideas here, fearless, free-flowing ideas. And it all sounds superb, no bedroom recording quality, and that high standard extends to the moody and memorable artwork too. Top draw.