Via the Verge has produced a solid effort with their debut self-titled EP. Discerning listeners and musicians, don’t touch the knob: This six-song effort sounds immaculate and is expertly mixed. With this first release, the future is bright for this Norman, OK-based quintet, tastefully implementing time signatures and key changes while avoiding anything that feels gimmicky or forced. Unlike other bands in their post-hardcore, progressive rock genre, they don’t wear you out with a barrage of speed drumming and staccato guitar riffs. Instead, they leave the listener with enough space to breath and absorb what they just heard, a nod to their ability to write a true song. Each track is its own animal, presented in such an organic way, unforced with respect for the musicianship that drives it. Newly acquired vocalist Joseph Kelm drops deep, guttural vocals as an accent, inserted only on an as-needed basis. Manning a tiny raft in a sea of prog-rock and metal bands, the question for Via the Verge is whether they will survive long enough to rise above the tide, and they are definitely worth following to find out.
Features
Forward Under a Dying Sun
Most of these days, the sun rises and sets on a world that feels like it's dying. Across the pond, where Employed to Serve calls home, they're learning how to support their latest record a year into its release. HM contributor Andrew Voigt recently sat down with Justine Jones to learn more about the band, marrying your bandmates, and their outside shot at touring with Rammstein.
Full Feature More from Employed to Serve
The Spirit of Light
Metal is a world where self-exploration thrives, and there are a number of bands that see it as a palette that paints with the eternal human spirit of curiosity, contemplation, and confidence. It welcomes both darkness and light. Welcome, Lightworker.
Full Feature More from Lightworker
The Destination is Truly Beautiful
Dave Elkins, lead vocalist and songwriter of Mae, answers questions about the band’s future plans, his new musical ventures, and how he uses nature to reconnect to his spiritual side in a world of pandemics and murder hornets.
Full Feature More from Mae
The Haunting Sound of Hope
"Ever Eden has been this perfect culmination of us realizing what our journey has been and how to aim that as a message for other people." After years of introspection and coming-of-age, Ever Eden has embraced their own struggles, as haunting as it may feel, to create a community that's turned out to be much larger than the band itself.
Full Feature More from Ever Eden
