“I’m living life like I’ve been in a coma.”
Unlike many bands I have stumbled across in our digital-centric era, I discovered THECITYISOURS the old-school and arguably best way — at an intimate show with my best bud after sinking many a pint. Performing alongside Our Hollow, Our Home and The Uncharted at The Flapper, Birmingham in February 2019, CITY seriously impressed me from the get-go, and I knew I was witness to a band with an overwhelmingly bright future.
It goes without saying: a LOT has happened since then. Our industry has gone through the absolute wringer due to Covid restrictions, yet the British metalcore landscape is unreservedly intact and stronger than ever. Thankfully, the CITY boys are back at the helm with their sophomore record, COMA, and it is exemplary of what the UK scene is capable of.
Opener “Does It Keep You Up?” kickstarts the twelve-track, forty-three-minute COMA with an anthemic armada of experimental effects and stadium-rock instrumental progressions. Synths pulsate at a perfect level in the mix, whilst guitarist/clean-vocalist Mikey Page delivers superb singalong lines: “How, how can you sleep (with these voices, these voices?) / How, how can you keep (fighting in your head and reminding you what you’ve done) / Does it keep you up, keep you up at night?”
Second song and eponymously-titled “COMA” is a certified bop. Page – along with guitarist Stuart Mercer – provide relentlessly aggressive Drop-G tuned riffs that evoke Blueprints-era Wage War. Meanwhile, drummer Louis Giannamore creates cracking explosive percussive layers with his tightly-tuned kit — you’d think this fella has nicked Abe Cunningham’s snare — it is LETHAL.
Tracks three and four offer album highlights in the form of “Death Of Me” and “Violent”, both of which have proudly remained in my band’s long-drive playlist ever since their release earlier in 2021. This coupling offers delightful contrast — “Death Of Me” incorporates a hybridisation of vocal and guitar patterns in an uplifting manner, whereas “Violent” is precisely what it says on the tin; an antagonistic bloodbath of a track.
“Violent” is where CITY’s newcomer, aggressive-vocalist Oli Duncanson, truly comes into his own with intensely pissed lines such as “But have you thought about how you will cope without / When I decide it’s time to chew you up and spit you out”. As a guitarist I have a particular appreciation for the musicianship on “Violent” — Page and Mercer intricately layer a variety of lead melodies where they hit hardest without being too overbearing. Amazing stuff.
Now, this may alter your perception of COMA depending on whether you’ve followed the release of the singles or not, but you may notice that tracks two through seven are all familiar ground. Everything from “COMA” to the most-recently-released “So Sad” has been in the public domain for a number of months. I’m operating under the assumption that this was a decision made by the band’s label, Arising Empire, rather than CITY themselves. Nonetheless, the bloated number of singles in the album’s first half makes for a less exciting adventure, as we charter already-explored territory.
Despite this, CITY shine in the latter phases of COMA. Eighth track “Body Count” overflows with swagger, matching the likes of Don Broco with its sheer attitude and assertiveness. Duncanson and Page, as with the vast majority of COMA’s twelve tracks, play to each other’s strengths and give one another time to breathe between their respective sections, allowing for a more organic listen.
“Madre” enthrals upon the very first listen. Exploring the inexplicably painful loss of a mother, Page delivers heartfelt, harrowing lines: “I let go of myself since you’ve been gone / What would you think of the way I’ve carried on?” My only small gripe with this track is its length — I long for more after just over two-minutes with “Madre”. Whilst this cleverly lends itself to repeat listens, I sincerely hope for additional compositions in this style from CITY on future releases, and wish that COMA possessed a few more deeply emotive entries like “Madre”.
The COMA experience is rounded out by twelfth track “Save You With My Love”, which is hallmarked by In Hearts Wake-esque lead guitars and ambient clean sections. “Save You With my Love” is a perfectly fine album closer and fulfils its purpose as such, but it doesn’t seem to stick with me on each and every listen. With tracks such as “Death Of Me”, “Violent” or “Madre”, I find myself eagerly awaiting those monumental markers along the way. At least for me personally, COMA is more about the overall journey rather than its final destination.
Ultimately, COMA stands among its contemporaries as a major powerhouse release of 2021. Landing within the likes of For Those That Wish To Exist by Architects and Our Hollow, Our Home’s Burn In The Flood, COMA is an admirable album in British metalcore that is sure to propel CITY to new heights. I’d be insanely stoked to see CITY take COMA’s shortcomings on board for their next release — a smaller selection of singles from across the entire gamut of the album rather than a bloated clump of pre-released tracks dominating the first half of the listen would go a tremendously long way, and further shifts in dynamics like with “Madre” would contribute towards a vaster experience.
COMA will be released this Friday, October 22nd via Arising Empire, and you still have time to pre-order the album here. For more on THECITYISOURS, British metalcore and music in general, stay with us on Boolin Tunes.
8/10