Summary : The sound of a band who know where they’re going.
To the untrained ear, Glass Giant may appear to be nothing but a La Dispute clone, but scratching beneath the surface reveals a confident, sincere EP that can be ranked alongside the many other fantastic 2011 post-hardcore releases.
My initial thought process went something like this; ‘..dude, these vocals remind me of La Dispute and meWithoutYou’. At times, the cadence is so eerily similar to Jordan Dreyer’s that you’d be forgiven for thinking that you were listening to unreleased tracks from Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair. Fortunately, Glass Giant separate themselves from their peers by embracing diversity and experimenting with different aspects of hardcore and metalcore in the 11 minute running time.
Indeed, the bands’ constant shifts in tempo and emotion are noteworthy, which is very encouraging for future releases. Sometimes, fierce waves of guitar riffs and pounding drums accompany full-on screams. At others, the amps takes a back seat to make way for a spoken monologue over a post-rock soundscape. By the end, I was happy (and relieved) that the vocal range on show was much wider than I originally thought it would be.
That’s not to say there aren’t issues. Things occasionally feel a little unfocused, particularly on Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and the bands’ influences do have a tendency to show perhaps a little too obviously.
However, that’s not to say that Glass Giant haven’t crafted a strong EP here. The tight instrumentals, youthful ambition and earnest delivery combine to result in what is a fine post-hardcore release. Things never feel forced or fake, and if they continue to develop their sound, they have every chance of creating a remarkable full length in the future.
Review by Isaac Powell.
