If you asked me what -core music is 5 years ago, I’d have drawn a complete blank. Back then, the closest I came to metalcore in general were a few handful of alternative rock or metal bands along with bands like Annisokay and Any Given Day. Only going deeper into -core did I find out the sheer amount of music it has to offer, almost baffling from where to start and that is not even taking into account the numerous sub-genres it has spawned. As someone who is relatively new to the core scene, having only delved deep into the genre since late 2019 my journey of discovery accentuated by COVID lockdowns, I managed to listen to a vast array of metalcore bands during the period. So much so that I began feeling burnt out of the genre by the time 2021 began.
From listening to the bigger names such as Architects, Bring Me The Horizon, and The Devil Wears Prada to some relatively smaller bands such as Wage War and Bad Omens to name a few and digging deep into r/Metalcore (heavens forbid me from visiting that place now) to discover more bands. Only, much to my dismay, to find out the audacious circlejerking prevalent over the same handful bands from time immemorial.
Rare is the band that has managed to carve out a niche, forge their own unique sound though more often than not, that is the result of other bands mimicking the sound of the original band. Having become extremely formulaic and losing identity, you can dump a plethora of bands and give them one name and it won’t seem out of place. Don’t get me wrong. While these bands and songs are enjoyable, there are just too much of them to consume, too much repetition in atmosphere and soundscape to consider listening to any one band over the other (exceptions do exist, though rare).
Enter Caskets (previously known as Captives), a metalcore band based out of Leeds and signed to Sharptone Records. At first glance and having listened to their debut EP, they seemed promising, delivering catchy and energetic metalcore. But as time went on and my frustration with metalcore grew, so did my perception of the genre and similar bands in general. Though Lost Souls, the debut LP of Caskets is an overall improvement over their EP and a stellar starting point for the band, it is by no means perfect and fails to carve its own position in my head.
The artwork itself is super generic. A second’s glance at it would instantly tell you everything you need to know about the album. The hands (I don’t get the obsession with hands and metalcore album covers), the torn card and the black and gold color palette, all signs point to a generic metalcore/alternative rock type of sound. And, to be blunt, that is exactly what Lost Souls is.
“The Only Ones” kicks off the album with the energetic charm present on their EP, however it feels extremely similar to Bad Omens’ Finding God Before God Finds Me. What’s more, it has the feel of a closer more so than an opener with the dragging intro and outro of the song. Is this padding I hear? On the first song? Oh boy. Thankfully, “Glass Heart” is an absolute banger with a catchy chorus amplified by a slow build. Finally getting into the groove of the album with this anthem of a song, bursting blissfully into your ears and finally making sense of the relatively doozy of an opener to lead up to a smashing hit.
“Hold Me Now” continues up on the energy built up by the previous song, however, it seems detrimental now since it also has a slow build up to a chorus extremely similar in vibe to the previous ones. It is obvious that Caskets’ strength lies in writing catchy choruses and building up to them, but for an entire album consisting primarily of the same structure is shoddy work when the market is already saturated with similar bands. Nor do the lyrics help to gain them any considerable footing amongst their peers, seeming pretty basic and superficial as a whole. However, nearing the end of this song, there seem to be buried deep some great synths, however present sparsely, they could’ve been utilized more to create something truly unique. Well, there’s always the next song.
“Lost in Echoes” ended up being my favorite song from the album simply because it has that energy that just makes you want to scream the lyrics along with the tune despite the song suffering from the same formulaic structure that the band has stuck to. “Clarity” brings about a minor change from the very start owing to starting off with a bang and not utilizing the build-up scheme to deliver an anthem. Though an anthem, it does deliver. At this point, I feel like I am repeating the same words, but so are Caskets. No song has its own identity. You can easily interchange elements of any of those songs besides the dragged-out bits of “The Only Ones” and you’ll end up with a decently average song that gets you nowhere.
At least the following song, “Hopes & Dreams” brings some amount of change albeit for the worse. A piano & strings driven ballad stuck right at the center of the album that ruins what little momentum the anthemic choruses had built. If you’ve been reading my reviews (you have been, right?), you’ll know how much I hate out of place ballads. An extremely slow build-up leading to a mediocre of a high nearing at 3 minutes doesn’t make sense, especially when it is followed by an even slower outro of an entire minute with just the vocals and subtle strings.
“Drowned in Emotions” ends up being yet another cookie cutter track not different than the previous songs. The only redeeming element of this song, or any of them for that matter are simply their catchiness and energy they exude that gets them stuck in your head. “Lose Myself” sounds something like Wage War would put out were they to remove the harsh vocals completely. While that’s not a bad thing on its own, but I desperately hope that Caskets find their own unique sound for they definitely got the formula for a good tune down, all they need is some more substance. I struggle to hate this album and also to love it. Despite of being basic bread and butter, it full meal by itself.
“The Final Say” reminds me a lot of Dayseeker’s “Crooked Soul”. Call it their inspiration or just trying to stick out in a crowded genre, it gets the job done despite its similarities to a ton of other bands. Gladly the album picks up with the final two songs “One More Time” & “Nothing To Hide” Shifting just a tad bit from their formula, the former feels like a perfect middle point between a ballad and an anthem. While nothing out of the box, it definitely is something mildly different than what has been witnessed on this album so far. On the other hand, the latter feels like the perfect closer to this album. Playing to their strengths of a slow build up towards an explosive chorus in a well-established and enjoyable formula despite its repetition throughout the past 45 minutes.
Conclusively, while my opinion is slightly mired towards the negative side owing to the repetitive and formulaic nature of the record as a whole, partly due to the saturation of the genre itself and not due to the band’s inabilities, I can gladly say that is an enjoyable listen for when you’re craving some great metalcore with cleans. While I’m stuck in the dilemma of loving and hating this record, by itself, it ends up being a solid debut and well worth a listen if you’re at all a fan of bouncy, catchy and lively metalcore that might just tug at your heartstrings.
Caskets have the formula in their palms and with just the right amount of deftness, they can definitely create something far more enjoyable for I’ll be looking forward to their next release. Lost Souls is out now via Sharptone Records and you can listen to it here. For all things music, stay tuned to BoolinTunes.
7/10