wars, unbeknownst to me, are from my own stomping ground of Rugby in the Midlands area of England. Their debut album, 2017’s We Are Islands After All (Spinefarm), offered up a lot of promise and it’s time to see if their new EP, As Within /// So Without (Wolf At Your Door), can build and then expand on the debut.

I’m happy to say they have done. In spades. There is a lot more energy and vigor behind both the writing and the playing. Like current UK Metalcore acts like Our Hollow Our Home, this band has a real sense of melody to their heaviness without it ever feeling watered down or contrived.

‘Scorn and Fidelity’ has a sumptuous guitar sound that opens up to a furious combination of snapping snares and driving guitars. The screams of frontman Rob Vicars are at times ear shattering and he’s come a long since I last heard him in his previous band Lavondyss. It’s the way these screams are used that really hooked me in. They kind weave in and out of the riffs never feeling like they’re trying to supersede the music, rather they just want to complement and add to the overall mix.

Doing things a bit differently does seem to be in the bands’ mission statement, and a testament to this ethos is closing and best track ‘In A Mirror Dimly’ which really does flip a script already full of twists and turns. There are hooks aplenty and the harsh/clean dynamic is cleverly progressed from what you would normally expect.

At certain points, I was unsure where certain songs were going to go both structurally and musically. Throughout there a was fine line being trodden, that being having sound almost quintessentially Metalcore but also borrowing progressive elements and ideas from Djent. wars never falls into one category or the other. This is a real step up from the debut album and wars could well be on to something special in the future.

Rugby represent!!!

7 / 10

KIERAN MITCHELL