Luck Of The Irish
With the UK currently in lockdown, I am chained to the laptop trying to get as many reviews done in the absence of any gigs and do my bit to spread awareness and bolster support for bands that are on a knife edge right now, unable to perform live, they rely on fans to buy merchandise and music to keep them alive.
What I have today is the new EP from our Irish cousins Dream Awake and it is a small but perfectly formed pocket of music that will rehydrate those hard to reach areas.
It is a slice of metalcore with the growls and snarls, yet has rapturous, angelic choruses that lift you in these most distressing of times. When growls and grace collide, you get ‘Prosper’, rise up as the music swells in an assured and refined manner.
Swimming gleefully in the same waters as our friends Bury Tomorrow, we embark on a journey to ascertain our ‘Heritage’ and ‘discover who you are so you can make a change’. With a cutesy tinkle at 2.13 it’s a great tempo change amidst the impassioned and the anguished.
They do a sharp line in the poetic too, with words like ‘I’m a shadow of myself when you encapsulate the sun’ taken from ‘Obsession’, another hefty bite out of the metalcore apple. Getting ready to land we have ‘Inanimate’ it’s quite catchy and but the harshness of our reality is never far away.
The finale is ‘Anaesthesia’ and it is vibrant and fresh, with that zingy chorus, it is quite touching, and makes you feel all soft and squidgy inside. The video was filmed entirely during lockdown, this song was written two years ago, I’d say that was a premonition. By the way lads , this chorus, the anticipation is exceptional, my heart right now is ready to burst.
An incredibly handsome beast of a record, articulate, striking and with the message that after all is said and done, we all want to prosper.
Azra Pathan
Dream Awake – Prosper out now via Down For Life Music.