EP REVIEW: Dissociate – Anxious Hands

After less than a year in existence, ANXIOUS HANDS have come flying out of the traps, whetting our appetites with their debut EP Dissociate. Employing all the necessary metalcore-isms, it follows suit from their debut single Home released last year, featuring a lustrous attack of melodic riffs and head-flattening breakdowns. Birthed as a collaboration project between members of New England bands, the five-some were already well-established members of the music scene in their native state. Dissociate sees them take full advantage of this platform, trampling a sturdy footing through a genre rife with generic, sound-a-like riffs and sing-a-long choruses. It stamps a personal touch on metalcore roots, flowing with originality and confident flair.

Kicking off the eighteen-minute release is Envy and with it, ANXIOUS HANDS waste no time in using it as an excuse to throw in the kitchen sink. Written as a two-and-a-half-minute outburst, charismatic guitars open the EP with assertive precision, right before a slap of ruinous vocals join the aural skirmish. Aptly redolent of bands such as POLARIS, the heaviness is written in good taste, rather than being left to feel like a sonic attack. Red Flags follows suit. Utilised as Dissociate’s lead single, it’s a lively track that whips up the dust with it’s clouting instrumentals. This is perhaps where the bands hardcore influence first becomes prominent. Channelling their inner COUNTERPARTS, two-steppy breakdowns act as a desirable interlude to well-written metalcore passages, culminating in an almost impossibly melodic finale.

Pulling holes in ANXIOUS HANDS’ music seems almost unfair, given how infantile the project still is. As we are introduced to Drifter, there isn’t an awful lot that the Maine band does wrong. Room for improvement there may be, but their lively philosophy allows them to express themselves in a playful manner. “I’m not who I want to be!” they scream before playing out the track with the EP’s best chorus section. Title track Dissociate drives the band forward, inflicting a cataclysmic array of pummelling chug, drums clattered with assiduous ferocity and a wall of angst driven vocals. Custom built to sit perfectly in a live set list, this energetic tune seems perfectly designed to open up a crowd and allow bedlam to ensue.

Farewell acts as a well-placed closer. As an atmospheric introduction builds steadily back into the now established ANXIOUS HANDS formula, delicate playing allows the band to demonstrate their musical ability while lowering the temperature back below boiling point. Taking into account the short-lived period of time these guys have spent as a unit, Dissociate EP is a record that they will release with pride, and be assured that in an ever more saturated metalcore scene, they have given themselves a fighting chance.

Rating: 7/10

Dissociate is out now via self release. 

Like ANXIOUS HANDS on Facebook.