BMA single review by Vince Leigh
Harnessing a broad palette of sensibilities and sub-styles
Canberra-based metalcore band A World In Colour has just released its third single, In The Blue, a scorching exploration of the complexities of grief, memory, and loss. The new onehas more in common with their sophomore release, Break Me (2022), than their debut, Descent (2021), harnessing a broader palette of sensibilities and sub-styles within the metal/punk/hardcore schema. In The Blue invites us into this netherworld of anguish and heartbreak quite solicitously, a mix of ethereal voices and wistful guitars prepping us for what one expects will be an onslaught of the most demandingly unforgiving variety. And that ambush does arrive, but it’s surprisingly more melodically sensate than a mere barrage, featuring a galvanic chord sequence, a bittersweet rousing vocal texture and soaring guitar lines that hover above the steadfast chaos of the drum parts. All this leads to the opening verses, stripped back and highlighted by a soothing melody and developing intensity and dynamic.
Drifting into hardcore acerbity
A pre-section ushers in the chugging guitars and a more fitting prelude to the chorus, whose front end maintains a melodic centre that only drifts into a hardcore acerbity towards the end. So then we have the gutturals, the double-bass drum assaults, all of which find themselves back to various interludes of disintegrations until a vitalising vocal swirl leads us to another chorus. Post this second chorus, and we are treated to some more of the identifying and inveterate metalcore tropes, the low tunings, a generalised deluge, and a levelling of the intensity that seems to have us in the thralls of some suspension, as the sound and rhythms teeter on a dilating edge. Just what that edge is, undoubtedly reflects the emotional effluence exposed in the lyric, a spectral taint whose obliquity is on par with the corroborative musical bed. A World In Colour has delivered a sterling third track, utilising a fine balance of emotional resonance and fierce, cathartic musical skills.
You can hear the track on Spotify or Apple Music.
