Tampa, Florida metalcore outfit Chasing Airplanes, who adds their own flavor with atmospheric and synth blends, are celebrating the arrival of their new album, Kaleidoscopes. The group has teamed up with Metal Insider to give a full track by track rundown of their latest full-length offering.
01) OBSIDIAN
This track embodies the essence of a lot of our lyrical content on this album. It starts with the imagery of religious leaders beckoning followers to come with them and listen to them because they are the voice of god. You’ll see this shift through the song as the last lines of the song turn and the true nature of this type of individual is revealed. This is shown in the line “fear me for I am death, I am the hand that’s holding you under.” Musically this track hits hard from the beginning while also incorporating the synth wave elements the listener will hear throughout the album.
02) RED
Red was the first single off the album and was intended to be the heaviest. It hits you in the face from the beginning and while it also includes many of the melodic elements we are known for, it doesn’t relent on the heavy aspects. It lyrically deals with themes of uncertainty in ones purpose and life and the fallout that uncertainty can have on relationships with others. This has quickly become one of our most popular songs live.
03) LOST IN THE SNOW
With this track, you begin to see some divergence from your typical metalcore track. While still featuring heavy guitars, we relied more on singing and melody throughout vs sticking to a safe formula of screaming during verses and singing during choruses. This compliments the lyrical aspects of the song of searching for meaning in an infinite universe while also talking about the dangers of modern certainty in religious beliefs.
04) PINK TRANS AM
This song is an extreme departure from the norm for us as the song has more in common with bands like The Midnight and Timecop 1983 than modern metalcore. We’ve always been fans of synth wave and have flirted with it on previous tracks, however, we went all in on this one. This song is also very personal as it talks about a previous failed relationship that looks at both parties faults in that relationship.
05) CONSTELLATIONS
This was the final single from the album and felt like the perfect combination of Red and Pink Trans Am. It deals with themes of fear of the unknown and how to cope with that fear in a productive way. It has a very solid combination of metalcore and ambience so it hits a lot of the beats we are more known for while leaning fairly heavily on melody.
06) VIOLET GRAVE
This song may come out of left field for some people. It’s less metalcore and more synth-rock. This is a song that our guitarist Jake brought to us and was uncertain if it would even fit in for Chasing Airplanes. However, as we started looking at melodies and the heavier parts at the end, we couldn’t imagine it not being on the album. While it relies on melody throughout the first 3 minutes of the song, it rewards the fans of heavy music at the end. It delves into themes of living in echo chambers and what that can do to not only you, but also those around you.
07) VIRIDESCENT
Believe it or not, this track originally was nine minutes long. We fell in love with the synths on this song and the melody that was unfolding. Eventually we trimmed it to under 6 minutes, but we feel like every moment of that 6 minutes is engaging. This features some of our best melodies on the album but is a slow burn that builds to a fantastic conclusion. It lyrically explores my life as an adult and how easy it is to be a victim and jump from miserable situation to miserable situation.
08) PIXELS
Pixels was originally going to be a tacked on instrumental track. However, the more we listened to it, the more we heard vocals. This will be a surprise for many people who listen to the album as there are no guitars, no drums, and no screaming. It’s a pure ballad.
In summary, Kaleidoscopes is an ambitious album for us. It represents a departure from what many think of when they imagine a metalcore band out of Florida. We are incredibly proud of this album and think there’s something in it for everyone. It’s also very personal as we open up more about our backgrounds, relationships, and fears about the future.
