There was once a time when bands on Solid State Records and Tooth & Nail Records had dissimilar sounds. There was not the incestuous relationship that is so befitting as of late. Solid State boasted a much heavier roster in terms of sound while Tooth & Nail had flashes of it. A lot has changed, including the face of both of these labels. Bands like Dead Poetic and Underoath can be found sporting both the Tooth & Nail and Solid State logo and sound, much like the Supertones and Value Pac did a few years back bouncing from BEC to Tooth & Nail. I first heard Far-Less on the Solid State Young Blood Tours Compilation sounding more polished than The Chariot and more like Dead Poetic I was interested to hear their EP Turn To The Bright.
Turn To The Bright opens with an instrumental and ends with one as well that serve as intros and outros, leaving four actual songs. "Scorched Earth Policy" begins with spoken word vocals and over distorted guitars and heavy drum parts. This seems to be Far-Less' penchant: strong vocals over incredibly heavy drum parts. Vocalist Brandon Welch teeters between screaming and singing throughout most of the song. "Georgia" a mid-tempo rock song is almost void of any screaming and is a very melodic well written rock song. This is one thing that Far-Less also does very well: they do not do the sing/scream thing throughout the entire album, while many other bands do it to the point of making the listener nauseous. "The Mountain Song" continues in the same vein as the previous track, in terms of being a mid-tempo rock song, but the drum parts are extremely heavy. It is the drums that stand out throughout much of this track with the guitars and vocals taking a back seat. "Out of Balance" picks things up and almost has a pop feel to it, that is until the end, then the song hits one of the heavier moments on the E.P. vocally and musically.
Albeit a lot of this sounds like already chartered territory, but Far-Less brings something different to the table. On the downside it is far too short even in an E.P. sense, and at times it sounds like you have heard this before. Yet they are able to mix pop, rock, and bits of hardcore/metal here and there to make it an enjoyable listen.
2.5/4
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