ALBUM REVIEW: Vitae – Set Before Us

After two EP released in the form of Voyagers in 2014 and Enigmas two years later, SET BEFORE US are back with their first full length release Vitae. The Stockholm quintet embrace the old school staples of metalcore, while implementing new ideas and stylings in their alternative take on the genre.

First up, Untainted bellows into existence, high clear riff over gnashing, bawling screams. It’s a nice juxtaposition between the sounds of hopeful guitars over darker lyrics and darker voices. The breakdown is where the real heart comes into play, as the final third of the track really pushes itself, the big sound of the rhythm section with the clear melody riding over. It’s a decent start, followed nicely by second track Avalanche which takes the ideas from that initial track and really ramps things up. The energy is more intense, the beat is more severe, the vocals are harsher, and yet the clean vocals and the crisp work on guitar really add a nice tonal texture to keep things fresh.

Identity takes a more stripped back beginning, with straining vocals wavering between screamed and sung. It’s less a gravelly effect, but more a raw expression. Taking the namesake of the song to heart, you can interpret this perhaps a more personal feeling song, with a lot of emotion in the vocal delivery, and a with enough diversity in that delivery that demonstrates that SET BEFORE US have plenty of techniques in their arsenal. It’s a fairly busy track, and benefits from its quitter moments, but overall not bad.

Shifting gears somewhat, Harbour is a little more pop punk in its delivery, an acoustic opening, all clean vocals. It’s a nice little folk romp, though it feels a little too early for this slowed down. The more impassioned vocals don’t particularly suit this style of playing and only really need to be implemented as track pushes into its final moments. The electric strings, which have to be noted as very entertaining, are probably the best thing about this otherwise uninteresting track.

Everything is turned back up to full whack with The Eternal Fight, another emotional, crowd pleasing song with big hooks, thrashing drums, and solid vocals. It’s more in tone to what these guys appear to do best; layered performances, crammed with ideas that really pack a punch. Running with that momentum, Everest really plays around with the more thrash sounds in metalcore, and it’s a pretty fun track for it. Beefy, relentless drums, fuzzed up guitars, followed by the bands signature clean guitar solos.

There’s a good example of dual vocals playing off each other on Ignite; those gritty, strained vocals accompanied by the deep, growling. The guitar work is particularly good on this track, slamming from one style of technical and intricate, to the bassy chugging we all know and love in the breakdowns. Again, another busy track, with all that vocal work sometimes clashing with the riff, but it’s well produced enough to get through it as a solid performance rather than a chaotic mess.

In much a similar way, Haven brings in a little more of the clean vocals and slower paced, groove laden ideas into the mix. It takes the spoken word section that’s been milling around the genre for a long while, and rather than overdoing it in one track and cramming it in, cleverly places it towards the end, enabling it to seep into the next song, Fountain of Youth. Another ball busting frensy, often with sing along qualities that would really get a show pumping. Again, the guitar solo sets an incredibly high standard, and is the high part of this track by a mile. Penultimate song Oblivion oddly feels a little like a demo. For some reason, the overall feel is less put together, a little too trope-laden, and lacks the real independence that the band had shown thus far on this album. It’s far too Pop to compliment the rest of what has been demonstrated, and in it’s attempts to be a song that connects with everyone, just missed the mark and becomes generic.

Finishing up we have Charon, with the first use of keys through this album, it feels very much akin to LINKIN PARK. It’s okay, quite sorrowful, and it’s hard to tell is this is homage to the late Chester Bennington, or just a coincidence to the effect, hopefully it’s the former. As far as an ending track, it’s a fitting placement for this song, but not the strongest example of what SET BEFORE US can do.

Overall, SET BEFORE US have created a pretty individual metalcore album, with a real distinct guitar tone and dual vocal style. The high points of Vitae shine as energetic, both menacing and inspiring, with plenty of technical and musical ideas that we can foresee blossoming into a real powerhouse of a band. There are some hiccups and misdirection here and there on this record, the few minor short falls are when the ideas either fall out of step of the momentum the album, or lack some of that originality and spark that is so apparent elsewhere. All in all, Vitae is potentially the best work SET BEFORE US has offered, and the jam-packed ride will leave you hungry for more.

Rating: 7/10

Vitae is set for release August 31st via Eclipse Records.

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