Saving Vice

Hello There

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Genre: Metalcore.
Released: 21/02/2020

Album Review: Saving Vice – Hello There

Vermont based metalcore band Saving Vice released there debut LP ‘Hello There’ on 21st February 2020. The album was received well by media and fans alike. Saving Vice has had a great start to there careers, from touring with bands like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and ‘Like Moths To Flames’ to being featured on Spotify’s ‘New Core’ Playlist. The up-and-coming group have shown greater potential in the studio and live on stage.  As the album draws closer to its first anniversary we here at TheRockFix thought what better way to celebrate than to review the album for ourselves.

The album kicks off with a soothing build-up before a whisper saying “Hello There” unleashing a barrage of blast beats! Enter ‘Before I Go’. A powerful metalcore song consisting of solid cleans and some gut-wrenching gutturals. The song is a solid effort for an opening track but has what seems like a build-up towards a breakdown only to play the same riff that’s been played throughout the song. A decent start is then followed by mammoth of a song with ‘Never Knows Best’. A mix of calming melodic sections blended with heavy as hell riffs and vocals creates exactly what you’d expect from a metalcore song. Not to mention this songs breakdown hits hard as hell! Well worth a listen.

Following that, we find ourselves with ‘Endgame’ (No not the Avengers…). The use of a key section in this song creates a nice melodic feeling which is matched by intense sections of blistering riffs and vicious screams. A really good song to continue the momentum created by ‘Never Knows Best’! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much that stood out for me when it came to ‘Nerve Damage’. After a decent amount of playthroughs, I couldn’t help but think the song sounded like a generic metalcore song you may find in a compilation playlist of B-sides on Youtube. A disappointing song that halts the flow of the album in a big way. 

‘Eyes Up’ featuring Kalie Wolfe creates the same feeling I get from ‘Gravity’ by Papa Roach. I mean that as a compliment! Great use of contrasting vocal styles and an excellent composition musically help reel the album back on track! Next up is ‘Echoes From The Guitar’ and my god, This song hits HARD! Some of the verses in this song have an almost deathcore feel to them and the brutal riffs just complete this monster of a track. My highlight of the album!

Thing seem to calm down as the intro of ‘Broken Window’ forces you into a false sense of security before the opening verse unleashes an assault of double bass and screaming! The song utilises synth esc vocal effects in a similar style to what you expect from ‘Architects’ and it helps make the song stand out. The variety of screaming styles pull the song together. With so much going on I was worried the song would feel cluttered, however ‘Saving Vice’ manage to pull it off well. Returning to a more familiar sound ‘Hollow Bastion’ feels very much like a song destined to be a hidden gem. The song has nothing that stands out however I couldn’t help but constantly want to replay the song. It’s just a really good metalcore song.

The penultimate song ‘So Safe’ screams live anthem! An upbeat song with a melodic chorus will have any crowd wanting to scream the words back at the band. I feel like this is one of those songs that is 100 times better when you’re surrounded by hundreds of like-minded fans shouting the words together in unison. This will be one I intend of catching live whenever live shows return. Finally, we have ‘The Black-Briar’ A disgustingly heavy way to end an album! This song was made with the intention of anyone who listened to it to need an ambulance due to a broken neck! A total beats of a track that ties the entire album together brilliantly. 

Overall, Saving Vice has done an incredible job on their debut LP. A nice mix of styles shows that the band have all the potential in the world to evolve into whatever they please. I highly recommend keeping an eye on this up-and-coming band as I’m certain they will only get better as time goes on. If your a fan of bands such as ‘While She Sleeps’, ‘Bury Tomorrow’ or ‘Fit For A King’ you’ll love what this band has to offer!