February 28th, 2012
Genre: Metalcore/Hardcore
Region: USA/UK
"New Distances" was a great first release from Narrows and being composed of the talented members from Botch, Unbroken, These Arms Are Snakes, Tropics, etc. there's no question as to why. I've been waiting for their next release eagerly and now Painted has appeared. Despite the off-putting cover art the music within is outstanding, a worthy sequel.
Potent and thick rhythms on bass and guitar heaped with twang, dissonance and feedback draped with infuriated, hoarse yells make each track high energy — most last to about the 2-3 minute mark and manage to stay dynamic. One track ("Greenland") is a behemoth 8 minute powerhouse injected with 3 minutes of cycling noise/feedback, bare drums and violent roars, only to collapse into slower (but still loud) chunky procession with a lot of reverb on the lead; not unlike "Gypsy Kids" on New Distances. The writing is as solid as ever, nothing runs too long and the production is sharp. There are some seriously addictive grooves that demand the volume be cranked to let that bass growl shake the foundations, especially on that last track.
Much thanks to The Elementary Revolt for getting on top of this one first. Highly recommended, don't judge from the cover guys. Narrows set out another win in the hardcore arena with Painted. You can pick this up soon from Deathwish Inc. as well as their other releases.
-link removed on request-
