Yesterday, October 3rd, the post-hardcore band known as Wolf & Bear released their first full length through the label known as Blue Swan Records. Everything Is Going Grey is an excellent debut from front to back, showing off their post-hardcore roots while leaning on both the heavier and more melodic side of things.

The first song we’re given, and the one which they just recently released a music video for, is Twisted Tongues. Having a sound that is most certainly along the lines of other bands in their genre like DGD and Stolas, yet sprinkling it with their own style. Both Marcus Cisneros and Tyler Watt play off each other well, never lingering too long on each other’s parts or somewhat battling for the spotlight. I do think the chorus’ vocals could be switched up at parts to keep in interesting whether that’s a different vocal melody or back and forth vocals from clean to screaming. Other than that, the song has just as much groove as the music video which was directed by Ethan Parrilla of Atrocious Works Productions.

Greyblood was one single we got a first glimpse at, and one which I covered earlier this summer. If you want to read my initial reaction to that, you can click here. The first song where I really knew this band isn’t fucking around is the 3rd track titled Dead Life. It’s by far the heaviest song the album, while never getting so heavy that it sounds foreign to the album. Tight vocal performance by Tyler, along with Marcus’ added melodies to bring a more soulful element. I haven’t mentioned it but the guitar work by Cameron Nunez and Joshua Unitt are both very impressive, not only on this song but on various moments throughout the album. My favorite lyric probably coming from Tyler being “I’m at war with myself and the man I should be//I look in the mirror, he never looks back at me”.

The next track that stood out to me was a couple more tracks in. Balcony is along the same lines as the rest of the songs but shows off Marcus’ full strength as a vocalist. The vocals interact in a way that flows more than some of the other songs, and it’s probably the most clearly about a past relationship. It’s a great balance of the two vocals, focusing on having a both heavy song while still incorporating the clean vocals tastefully.

The last song I want to mention is Tenere Acacia because of its impressive instrumentation on all the fronts. This one gives me the biggest The Chariot/68 vibes. While never getting all that heavy as the bands previously mentioned, they still somehow to bring enough to give just a small taste. Jacob Koval does a fantastic job on his drums here, and Tim Feerick also goes along with the drums in a way that works really well and fits perfectly.

With all of the good there are some moments throughout the entire album where it seems stale, some of those being on the tracks I didn’t mention. These were just some I thought stood out amongst all the others, but again this is just my opinion. Go check out the whole album, and buy it if you like it. First week sales are a huge deal, especially for a band’s debut on a label, so even just buying a digital copy can help a band out.

Wolf & Bear Socials

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Where can I find this album?

Merchnow(physicals): http://wolfandbear.merchnow.com/

Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2fGbnLR

iTunes: http://apple.co/2ykEa3Z

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2kj6jlR

Wolf & Bear, Andrés, VIS Fall Tour

