Kingcrimsonprog Rise to Remain were unknown to me until recently when they happened to be supporting a more famous band at a concert I was attending. The band put on a fantastic and energetic show, getting the whole crowd into a pretty excited state and absolutely converting me in the process. After the show I just had to buy their Album, but they haven’t released one yet at the time of writing and this EP was the closest thing available.

For an EP released before the band’s debut album is even out, the production quality is absolutely off the chart. The recording and mixing quality sounds better than alot of the genre’s early flag bearer albums. The songwriting is also interesting and perfectly executed.

In a genre with thousands of identical bands doing the metalcore clean singing, occasional thrash riffs, occasional death vocals, twin guitar harmonies with frequent brakedowns formula, Rise To Remain have found a way to stand apart from the crowd.

As The EP is six tracks long I won’t bother selecting standout tracks, because nothing is weak. I will however say that hands down the best track is ‘Illusive Existence,’ and you should check that song out if you need convincing to buy the EP.

It is no wonder Rise To Remain are winning awards and gaining critical respect when their music is this good and the recording quality is already at this advanced stage. Basically if you like bands like Trivium and Shadows Fall and want to hear an extremely talented British version then you simply must check this band out.

Time Signature Illusive existence...

Genre: modern metal (metalcore)

This EP by "Rise to Remain" is okay I think. Musically, it falls under the genre known as metalcore (a genre, I wish had a different name), and it has everything that a metalcore release is supposed to have. Austin Dickinson makes use of growled vocals, screamed vocals, and clean melodic vocals. There are the breakdowns and the shifts between melodic power metal derived fast riffs and aggressive thrash metal derived riffs, and then there are the quiet and very melodic parts. The drums are pounding, borrowing stylistic features from all over the metal universe. In other words, this is pretty generic metalcore.

That being said, I do not thin that "Burning Bridges" is a bad release. In fact, I think that, while a bit generic, it does stand out compared to a lot of other so-called metalcore acts in that I think that a lot of the guitar riffs on this album somehow click better with me than what I typically experience within this genre. This could be because the influences from traditional heavy metal and power metal really shine through in the music, which I personally appreciate, being a fan of good ole 80s heavy metal.

This EP should click with fans of so-called metalcore acts like Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. I don't know if fans of other metal genres will like this album - that really depends on how open-minded you are. If you categorically reject metalcore, then you will not like this EP, but if you can survive the metalcore tendencies, you migh enjoy a lot of the retrospective elements on this album. "Bridges Will Burn" is promising, and I think that, with some adjustments and a bit more originality, Rise To Remain may become a great name within modern heavy metal music.