Amplified is a column focusing on small and emerging artists. If your band fits the bill, drop us a line at amplified@metalinsider.net.
West Virginia’s Years End are doing it right. Their sound is a 2006 time capsule for sure, but it’s a style that’s tried and true, and there’s a reason it’s still so popular. “Locust Grove,” off their new record Ring of Bone, is a very straight-up metalcore track; the melody is at the forefront, even during a particularly gnarly breakdown midway through the track. Clean vocals are tasteful and definitely understated, something that’s lost on a lot of the try-hard pop punk guys in this scene that are wildly over-enunciating every single syllable in their choruses. (seriously, local bands in a similar vein – look to Years End as a benchmark of how NOT to overdo your singing) It’s tasty, it’s catchy, and it’s in and out in under 3 minutes, so repeat listens are encouraged.
Says frontman Sam Freeman: ‘Locust Grove’ is a landmark from when I was younger that’s context has changed over time. The song deals with the plan you had for yourself that becomes diluted as you get older.”
Check out “Locust Grove” below via New Noise, and pick up their album Ring of Bone on their Bandcamp page.
