Stick To Your Guns

Spectre

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Genre: Hardcore.
Released: 29/07/2022
Via End Hits Records

Album Review: Stick To Your Guns – Spectre

Stick To Your Guns are back with their first full-length album since 2017’s ‘True View’. ‘Spectre’ is the name of the band’s latest album and it has already made quite the splash in the hardcore scene with the release of 4 singles from the new album. Fans have been mostly positive toward the new sound Stick To Your Guns has laid out for them so I had to see what all the noise was about. Here are my thoughts on their latest release!

Opening the album is ‘Weapon’. A fast-paced, no holds barred track that packs some serious punch. An anthem-like song opens the album beautifully and showcases Stick To Your Guns’ progression as the music blends their existing style with a much more punky aesthetic too. ‘Who Dares’ continues the momentum with a beefy bass line dominating the track, while Jesse Barnett’s vocals pierce through your speakers and attack with an emotionally driven intent to please. This track is a headbanger’s dream so you got to give it a spin!

Following that is ‘Hush’, a track that will have all the beatdown fans ready to throw down in the pit in a heartbeat. Angst-filled lyrics matched with an aggressive sounding instrumental are exactly what you’d expect from a hardcore album. The closing breakdown is a recipe for destruction and I can assure you it will tear down many venues once it’s dropped live. The album has a tonne of character with a few different styles breaking through the mould of non-stop hardcore. ‘A World To Win’ has an almost modern pop punk feel around it however it captures the band’s sound and reinvents it in a way I never thought I needed until I heard it.

It’s clear to me that this album isn’t just a standard Stick To Your Guns release as it really pushes the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the band. Songs like ‘Open Up My Head’ And ‘Father’ dial down the aggression in favour of a more unique listening experience. For the most part, these tracks aren’t your standard moshes delight as they introduce a more delicate instrumental that compliments the track’s lyrical message in a more subtle way than just ‘Break Everything, Everything Sucks’. For some the addition of these kinds of tracks may be a little disappointing, however, I feel they work really well and add a lot of character to the record. Don’t knock these till you try them!

For those of you who are into the more intense and heavy tracks from the band, there is still plenty in store for you! ‘Liberate’ aims to get its message across with aggression and half-speed breakdowns while ‘The Shine’ utilizes vocal diversity in an extremely pleasing way that allows the anger-filled song to flow somewhat delicately. Unsurprisingly ‘Instruments Of The End’ has one of the heavier instrumentals on the album. If you could only mosh or headbang to one song on this release, I think a lot of people would choose this one without a second thought. It’s a top-tier tune for a top-tier album.

Closing out the album are ‘More Of Us Than Them’ and ‘No Way To Live’. These songs slowly lower the aggression and lay the album to rest in quite a fitting manner. ‘More Of Us Than Them’ uses a mix of harsh gutturals and cleans to layer contrasting emotions behind the lyrics being sung, while the final track ‘No Way To Live’ throws everything out and opts for an acoustic style. Hearing the band in this manner is something quite special and it show’s once again that the band are capable of breaking their mould and not feeling out of place.

As a whole, ‘Spectre’ has the potential of being one of the band’s best albums to date. It has something for everyone without losing the band’s core. It certainly isn’t quite like their previous releases however I believe old and new fans alike will embrace this album with open arms and these songs will become staples in the band’s setlists for years to come.