Review: Jack Price
Lyon, France. Not where you would expect to find a metalcore band hailing from, especially a top tier, high energy powerhouse such as Resolve. But you would be as wrong as I was. Delivering their second album, Human, Resolve is breathing fresh air into the scene with their genre-mixing, well-polished sound.
Originally founded after two local bands disbanded and joined forces in 2017, perfecting their sound and supporting some huge names such as Architects and Every Time I Die. As a four-piece, this band has an enormous sound, layered with shredding guitars, massive breakdowns, haunting synth and vocal effects that shine through without stealing the limelight.
The title track, Human, opens into an spectral eerie synth with overlapping whispers of vocals before Anthony Diliberto delivers one hell of a growling performance as the opening to the track. Heavy chugs and crashing drums drive through the intro before the verse abruptly halts the brutality, bringing back the synth from the opening of the track with distorted effects possessing Dilberto‘s vocals, that increase in intensity as the chorus approaches, moving from high, falsetto singing to fry screams to guttural growls. The chorus switches it back another gear, becoming a heavier rock sound, creating an interesting yet satisfying contrast. This track alone is worth listening to the album, and as a title track, it is what the people need – heavy where it needs to be, a monstrous breakdown, crisp and clear vocals. It’s perfection and sums up the album beautifully.
Human is a patchwork of awesomeness, delivering everything it needs to and holding no punches. It’s akim to the best of A Day To Remember, Asking Alexandria, Bring Me The Horizon and other metalcore bands – tracks like Death Awaits, Move To Trash and Bloodlust driving the album with aggression and furry, while stand out track Older Days (featuring vocals from Aaron Matts of Ten56. and Marc Zellweger of Paleface Swiss, and the third single off the album) add some trap and hip-hop vibes for flavour. Adding to the mix, tracks such as Ignite bring a touch of pop-punk to the mix, provide a more cheerful, hopeful vibe.
For me, In Stone is one of the most beautiful tracks ever written in the genre. A soulful love song to loved ones lost, and features some agonisingly elegant guitar work from Antonin Carré. The song grows from a humble 4 chord strum with overlapping synth, Anthony‘s velvety voice edges between happiness and sorrow. This is the only time in the album that I could notice any hint of an accent (with the exception of the closing track, Moonchild, a pop-punk ballad mixed with Resolve‘s signature aggression), but it adds to the enchantment of the track. The bridge is a release of angst, sadness and regret, exploding into the glorious guitarwork of Carré. Even if you’re not a fan of softer tracks, I highly recommend giving this one a listen through. I promise it will not disappoint.
Following that with Comfortably Dumb is a disorientating explosion of aggression in arguably the heaviest track of the record. A brutal onslaught of roaring vocals, raging guitars and bass, courtesy of Robin Mariat, and some fantastic percussion from Nathan Mariat.
Everything that Human has delivered thus far is dropped into New Colours and then some. The truculent growls and low, smooth voice of Diliberto, the otherworldly synth that passes from ear to ear in my headphones, a symphony of strings backing the chorus, Nathan‘s percussive prowess, Robin‘s droaning, booming bass that channels its way through the track, and Antonin‘s guitar solo is masterfully executed, backed by a score of violins.
Resolve aren’t ones to colour inside the lines, choosing rather to blur them by fusing genres and bending them to their own pugnacious sound. While others chose to run, Resolve bided their time, evolved their sound to sublimity, twisted the norms of their defining bracket, and struck at just the right time with Human.
Human, drops on September 15
