Wings of Scarlet
Before the Great Collapse
6.7
And so the metalcore movement lingers on… Wings of Scarlet is a five piece metalcore act that aims to create brutality with tons of melody. What’s nice about this band is that they’re actually not beating to death the Swedish death sound; in fact they hardly ever touch it within their 6 song EP, Before the Great Collapse. Guitarists, Parker Kreig and Louie Pahl throw together crushing breakdowns with upbeat verse riffs, that are surprisingly quite catchy. With a healthy blend of octive driven leads and “rip-someone’s-face-off” breakdowns, they piece together some enjoyable music to listen to. Vokillist Shawn Page has the typical metalcore style vokills, with that gruff, menacing growl. Don’t get me wrong though, his voice is very fitting and works well with the band's style. As with most metalcore outfits coming out these days, Wings of Scarlet does eventually fall into a bit of mediocrity. Although it’s a nice chance of pace to see a band that doesn’t beat the Swedish sound to death, Wings of Scarlet eventually falls into a slightly above-par metalcore act, that doesn’t hesitate to crush you to a pulp, but quickly gets boring. I enjoyed Before the Great Collapse quite a bit when I first heard it, but it was a bit quick to fade from my memory. I’m sure I’ll pull this disc out from time to time though as it is pretty solid for the most part. If you’re looking for a metalcore act that tends to stand out a bit and doesn’t get completely lumped into the mediocrity that often weighs down many metalcore bands today, you should check these guys out.
