Eindhoven might not be your first thought when thinking quality metalcore (it certainly wasn’t mine), well it’s time to think again because Another Now are here to blow any preconceived ideas to smithereens. Armed with an incendiary sound, this quintet are taking heavy music into new realms and look set to take on the world with their sophomore album Hex. A wild mixture of brutal metalcore beatdowns and sublime electronics, Hex is a musical quandary that makes perfect sense and is sure to propel the band towards the biggest stages.
Presented in lower case, but big on sound, ‘visions’ is an introduction that is both lithe and heavy. It seems to emanate from another dimension and has a ghostly, waiflike feel, yet it is also supremely heavy and bears down upon the listener like an ocean upon a shipwreck. It’s this juxtaposition between the lithe and heavy that will echo throughout Hex as the band veer wildly between both. Each act as a foil to highlight and enhance the other meaning that when the weighty sections kick in, they kick in hard. Case in point being the following ‘DAYDREAMERS’. Definitely not made for somnambulists it shakes the listener from their revere, and lives up to its caps rage title to deliver with a succession of heavy blows which land with deft precision.
It’s always refreshing when a band brings something new to the table, and even more so when they stay true to their original vision. Another Now are adding a freshness to a genre that was in danger of becoming staid. There’s elements of rap, trip hop and electronica in their sound, but rather than detracting from the bands power, they add to it. It means that the band attack from several angles; often the sonic shifts are startling and tracks such as ‘HEX’ constantly reposition us, and the result in not unlike stepping into a hall of mirrors as sound fractures in all directions. Likewise, the interludes which pepper the album add a moment of respite before the band launch another sonic assault.
For all their brute strength, Another Now are a finely nuanced beast and they never lose sight of melody and song structure and that means cuts like ‘SORRY’ come heavily laden with groove. Swinging from speaker to speaker like a huge wrecking ball, ‘SORRY’ is a monumental beast that’s also very mosh-able and is sure to instigate all sorts of havoc in the pit. It’s a pronged assault that causes simultaneous reactions in the listener, and whether headbanging or stage diving, it’s sure to please.
The constant flux is what holds Hex together and it’s multifaceted nature will reward repeat plays as subtle nuances buried deep in the mix will reveal themselves on successive spins. Today Eindhoven, tomorrow the world.
- Hex is released on 22nd May 2024 (available here).
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Track List:
- visions
- DAYDREAMERS
- HEX
- we will be more careful next time
- would it kill you?
- DRIP
- SORRY
- 290332
- SMILE!
- THE DEATH OF EVERYTHING
- mirage
- HORIZONS
