2012 brought the formation of Kent based metalcore band, A Higher Demise. Their previous release of The Doctor Will See You Now gained high praise, and brought the guys a horde of followers for their industrious work, filled with passion and energy. Taking inspiration from bands such as Bring Me The Horizon, Issues and Of Mice & Men, A Higher Demise has tirelessly been working towards their upcoming release of To Death Or Victory – their second EP, and a lot of work has gone into it.
With a total running time of over 25 minutes and compilation of seven songs, A Higher Demise has created a wonderful mixture of theatrics and metal. It’s beautifully produced, with crisp and clear instruments – particularly opening track ‘Looking In.’ The heavy bass and drums are massively influential for the overall attitude of the song and complimented with the ferocity of the guitar, it’s a real introduction to what the band has created this time around for To Death Or Victory. A Higher Demise have always had a knack for contrasting clean and aggressive throughout their music, and it was one of the massive appeals for their previous release, The Doctor Will See You Now, and this time around A Higher Demise have used their contrasting vocals to easily add a sense of pugnacity. The second track, ‘Entropy’ really shows this with its combative, pumped up attitude from the get go. It’s heavily brilliant, with anthem-like clean vocals to get you shouting back. It’s a real contender for the liveliest song with guaranteed fist pumping.
An admirable aspect of To Death or Victory is the display of melodic hardcore in songs such as ‘Tear It Down’ and ‘Entropy’. Not only does A Higher Demise possess the ability to really bring a hefty energetic atmosphere surrounding their music, the ease they display to switch between a softened riff is just a small fraction of the creativity and talent that they share between them. ‘The End Of Us’ is another song that shares this similarity, with aggressive instrumentals and vocals softened and complimented by astonishingly strong, clean segments. ‘In The First Place,’ and ‘The Obituary’ there’s a sense of nostalgia within the songs, where the band is showing their roots of heavy, loud music filled with energy. Even though A Higher Demise has always shown a sense of theatrics throughout their musical journey thus far, ‘In The First Place’ really shows off their skill for the heavier genre that they’ve mastered. They could be considered a hybrid of sorts, combining the arts dramaturgy with an oldskool metal such as Bullet For My Valentine’s 2005 release of The Poison. ‘The Obituary’ on the other hand, has that heavy passion but takes that display of combination further.
The final song, ‘Endgame’ is the best song to end the EP with. It’s an emotionally driven song, with beautifully written lyrics that tug at the heart strings. Keeping that aggressive tone, they take the gentle segments further and really slow down the song in sections. Midway through the song, they subtly add a few chord changes, switching up the tone of the track instead of keeping repetition throughout the entirety. It’s a perfectly timed aspect that really makes this song what it is – and A Higher Demise has really taken their creativity and originality further with To Death or Victory.
To Death or Victory is set to release on September the 1st, so be sure to follow A Higher Demise on FACEBOOK, TWITTER and check their official BANDCAMP for updates.
Post-Punk Press 