Banks Arcade “Future Lovers”
‘Step into the dark, don’t be afraid’ is a repeating refrain over the first few moments of Banks Arcade debut album Future Lovers.
The Melbourne/New Zealand quartet’s debut album has been crafted through relocation, illness and a desire to make history.
After the fantastic success of EP Fever Dreams and the single Chosen, the question is what does the future hold for the band that while sitting in the metalcore camp, infuses hip hop, dance and atmospherics throughout their music in liberal doses.
Freaks is a oppressive heavy doom riff of a track with those hip hop rhymes over the top before Fake Your Death literally runs faster than a greyhound out of the traps as a head bobbing hip hop swirl arrives before exploding into a electro metal blast.
Banks Arcade mix the styles naturally well, even when venturing into guitar harmonies akin to classic rock bands such as in Smile, they still keep that metalcore and hop hop swagger.
Vocalist Joshua O’Donnell manages the different deliveries exceptionally well however in tracks like Spark you can hear the emotional range and pain as he screams Can’t Be Saved or on the melancholy Be Someone as the songs supernovas into a crescendo of wails of Be Someone.
The ability to paint the dynamics onto the their songs is the bands greatest gift. Experience how System Failed and Medicine sound on your speakers at high volume to really feel the texture of the tracks.
The album closes with Wine, almost a pop song at first however as you go on the journey with O’Donnell you understand its much deeper and emotional meaning. ‘The sad thing about tonight is I already know the end’ sings the vocalist with the resignation of a forlorn and defeated hero.
Future Lovers is an apt title for the album and for a band that mixes their influences with their natural talent. A love of bearing their soul within a different set of styles has created a unique, deep and wonderfully cathartic album. They step into the dark and through that find the light towards the future, who wouldn’t love that?
Album Review By Iain McCallum
