Relations – Gaia (Recommendation)

Relations make Metalcore.

That is the mantra for the new Relations album Gaia. Everything that made you fall in love with this genre is present here, plentiful. Uptempo-circle-pit anthems, mayhem-inducing mosh-parts and non-cringe-clean parts (which a lot of acts can’t pull off).

The “ABC” of nudging listeners to move is here: there is no possibility of sitting still while listening to “Rhiannon“. Groove, gang-shouts and even a bass-solo is here to surprise and maim you. “Wicker Man” falls into the same category, but instead of a bass-solo you’ll get a guitar-solo as a “breather” before the final mosh-part levels you. “Eyes of Medusa” would have been a perfect fit for any Metal-DJ-Playlist and clearly a big win for any live-set to come.

What annoys and annoyed me back in the day was the production and mix of Metalcore records. A lot of them sounded loud for the sake of being loud. There was a high amount of Death Magnetics: clipping and annoying sound-effects galore. But that is not the case here. Of course Gaia sounds like a modern Metal-release but it steers away from those aforementioned traps. Gaia sounds like a well-defined athlete instead of a roid-fueled gym-guy.

Gaia is a very entertaining Metalcore record. In a genre that has been announced dead a lot of times, it is a pleasant sound to old ears, when this genre is pulled off right. If you’ve been around the 2000 mark and Killswitch Engage and Unearth have been your thing, you can dive into this record and feel right at home.