The band photo of these young Welsh metallers makes them look younger than the students in my A level chemistry class. With the deathcore and metalcore scenes at saturation point in this fair isle, how many more acts are going to pop up before one of these bands says “Hey, let’s do some straight heavy metal, that’ll be different”. Until that time comes we have This Distance a talented bunch of lads who have squashed their way onto the “core” stage just like a traveller getting onto a tube train at peak times and clinging on with bleeding fingertips as though it’s the last train ever to metal nirvana.
With an intro of a minute that focuses on those breakdowns I know you probably hate the band launches into “Fallen” with a metalcore harmony and hardcore vocal grunt. The riff is fairly lightweight with the injection of breakdown chug that increases the density when used. I do like the odd twangs inserted into the guitar riffs during the breakdown, beatdown or call them whatever you like down sections. Musically this is not as heavy as say Parkway Drive or Suicide Silence, nor is it as technical as Architects but fits closer to the metal side of Misery Signal minus the complexity and somewhere between the above mentioned acts.
The drum sound is a little feathery on the breakdowns as they lack the gut juddering heaviness. “From The Shores” serves as an intro to “True Love Lie” which takes a side step into a more progressive stance that eventually utilises a hardcore style beat and riff. “Remembering Never” opts for a more powerful and gritty riffing style that was far more appealing but ended with sludge infested heaviness. Closing track “Mind Over Matter” hints at the more melodic style with the inclusion of a spoken vocal mid section that gave me hints of Protest The Hero. I’ve said this before numerous times about this genre, that whilst I enjoy the music the longevity of an act in a very drenched scene is in question when they all sound very similar. Also this is set to be an iTunes release from the blurb I released with no actual CD product from what I can gather.
http://www.myspace.com/thisdistanceuk
