EP Review: Vower - A Storm Lined With Silver
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
Across the message boards and social media that I frequent, there’s been a bit of a buzz recently about Vower, spurred on somewhat from their summer festival appearances at 2000Trees, Downland and ArcTenGent, so I was intrigued by their independently released second EP.
The quintet from Brighton and Hove, are forming a fearsome reputation, as they blend the fury of post-rock with progressive melodies and the fervour of hardcore, all evident from the beginning with opening track “Dawn in Me”. Vocalist Josh McKeown says that “`A Storm Lined with Silver` was a lyric written about bringing a child into the world” and upon hearing the destructive nature of their single “Stuck” they are creating blistering music that will cause tremors across the scene.
The group are pushing boundaries as far as they can, and say that “it’s about finding divinity, purity and positivity within chaos, madness and uncertainty” with “Deadweight” signalling their intent, with a piercing noise over the heaviness of the rhythm. The previously mentioned “Stuck” is a bruiser of a track, and as the band comments, they hope “it becomes the catalyst to drastic and positive change”.
The EP contains a few previously released singles, with “Moth Becomes The Flame” up next as the soft piano music combined with the gentle, cleaner vocals create a theatrical atmosphere, but you don’t get the expected huge explosion of noise until later into the song before it crashes again, like a child having a sugar rush before the inevitable nap.
“Satellites” is up next and it’s another moving song, loaded with emotions and intensity. The riffs are locked together, so the song can take you on that unimaginable journey before they wrap it up with the dark and brooding “Serpent”. It’s a well-controlled track, with the drums being prominent in the mix, to set the rhythm perfectly. Through full-hearted dedication and commitment, it’s another soundscape which pushes that limit and makes no apology for having done so.
