ALBUM REVIEW: Erase The Pain – Palisades

Since forming in 2011, New Jersey collective PALISADES have, over the course of three albums and two EPs, gradually been developing a blend of rock, post-hardcore, and electronicore that they could call their own, which culminated in the band impressing fans and critics alike with a truly original self-titled offering. Almost two years on from that, and the outfit have produced an eagerly-anticipated follow-up, Erase The Pain.

In putting this together, the collective enlisted the help of Howard Benson, an esteemed Grammy Award-nominated producer, who has had experience working with the likes of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, OF MICE & MEN, and IN FLAMES. With Benson’s expertise, and the immense musical talent that the band possess, the listener is treated to ten tracks that see the outfit take melodies that are abundant in strength, and use them as a rock-solid base on which to build things up, resulting in a sound that is very much versatile.

Whether it is the simmering guitar riffs and bouncing grooves of opener Vendetta, furious rhythms and echoing distortion accompanying third track Fade, pounding beats and balanced breakdowns of War, the rather anthemic Ghost, overwhelming heaviness of seventh song Fragile Bones, intimate atmosphere of Patient, or dynamic restraints of closing number Shed My Skin, there is much on offer sonically, and this is something that also applies, to much effect, in regards to both the layered vocals of Lou Miceli, and the frank lyrical content.

Depending on the overall sound of the individual track, Miceli responds accordingly with relative ease, switching between intense, angst-ridden screaming for the heavier songs, and softer, more placid tones whenever he and his bandmates go down a more intimate route.

Lyrically, each track is crafted in such a way in that they can have multiple meanings, resulting in interpretations that could be entirely different for one listener from the other, for example, War could be the story of a person who is in a neglectful relationship with somebody else, or alternatively, it could be a story about drug addiction. Another prime example is Fragile Bones, which deals with the pressure people feel to be a different version of themselves for whatever reason, whether it is to succeed in life, or to just conform to contemporary society.

Overall, Erase The Pain acts as an effective showcase for a band that, in comparison to their early output, have matured, both as individuals, and as a collective, having become far less concerned about the reactions that they get from critics, their musical peers, and the legion of followers they now have worldwide, and are much more comfortable in their own skin, all of which results in what has to be the most distinctive, eclectic offering that PALISADES have put out to date.

Rating: 7/10

Erase The Pain is out now via Rise Records.

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