CURRENTS | The Way It Ends | Album Review

Sharptone Records has carried a plethora of talented and promising metalcore bands with their recent track record, some of which have surpassed their potential to deliver music that is truly worth listening to. Hailing from the state of Connecticut, Currents is another band on the label's roster that is seeking to be held on the same level. After establishing themselves with 2017's "The Place I Feel Safest", and the EP that came shortly after, the metalcore band is back with their proper sophomore project entitled "The Way It Ends". Metalcore has morphed into a genre that has defied its own standards over the years, encompassing many diverse bands and styles from respectable to awkward. Infusing death metal sounds with metalcore is not by any means a new idea, but the method that this band mixes these two elements together sets them apart from others bands. "The Way It Ends" is a continuation of that, while it also shifts the band's gears slightly to a more accessible construct while still not being afraid to embrace heaviness. Speaking of the new project, frontman Brian Wille stated the following: "Over the last four years, we have traveled the world trying to make a name for ourselves... We've been met with various hardships along the way but have also been met with unprecedented kindness, support, and friendship that we will cherish and appreciate for the rest of our lives. There are no plans of stopping and with our new record, we plan to hit the world harder than ever".

The album starts with an intro track entitled "Never There", lasting nearly two minutes, before getting to three of the singles released early from the album. "A Flag To Wave", "Poverty Of Self", and "Monsters" are grooved together on the tracklist, meanwhile another single "Second Skin" appears near the end of the album as track nine. It's interesting to note than the single release cycle for this record began all the way in 2019 with "Poverty Of Self". Fans had to wait since last November for the rest of the album, and now here it is. The first two tracks on the album represent the band's heavier side with aggressive low-tuned riffs and blast beats that have a solid presence throughout each track. "A Flag To Wave" does have a varied balance between the heavy and melodic side while the following cut "Poverty Of Self" is undoubtedly the heaviest moment on the album and is blistering for its entire runtime. "Second Skin" and "Monsters" are lighter in tone but aren't afraid to borrow from the heaviness of the other two singles. "Second Skin" was the song I heard before the rest of the album, and it really gave me good expectations for the final product. This is Currents doing a great job at blending their best tricks in a calculated way. The other song "Monsters" is along the same lines, and this is where Brian Wille shows more of a clean vocal delivery mixed with growls, and the transition is seamless. It's paced perfectly, and the chorus hook is effective and well-delivered. This is probably my favorite track on "The Way It Ends". All four songs on the album set the construct of the entire record, but it's "Monsters" that I feel like pulls it off in the best way. 

In terms of style, the other tracks on "The Way It Ends" follow suit in the same way. Though this album doesn't go nearly as heavy as a track like "Poverty Of Self", there are tracks that provide a great and consistent blend between the menacing and melodic sides of Currents. Songs like "Split", "Better Days", and "Origin" are examples of this. These tracks are structured more like "Second Skin" or "Monsters", meanwhile tracks like the introductory song "Never There" and "Let Me Leave" are much more set on the melody and the atmosphere as opposed to relying more on the heavy side. As a band whose main shtick is metalcore with a bit of deathcore thrown in, their attempts to go softer add a lot of diversity to the nearly 40-minute venture, though not each instance of such is perfect in many way. The real selling point of the album is when all of the styles come together on tracks like "Split", "How I Fall Apart", and closing track "Better Days". All of these are toward the end of the album, so safe to say you'll be heading mostly towards the starting and ending points of "The Way It Ends" for the best material. "Split" feels somewhat ripped out of the nu-metalcore style with the riffs, but the softer verses add a lot dynamically to this track along with Wille's excellent vocals. "How I Fall Apart" is a combination of the ballad approach and the aggressive approach, but it doesn't feel like the track is disjointed. Neither does "Better Days", which is sure to be another highlight from the album, especially with its excellent chorus. The more you listen to these songs, the more they'll grow on you over time and the more you'll become addicted to them. 

As with most albums, there are a couple of loose ends. The middle of the album, featuring the cuts "Kill The Ache", "Let Me Leave", and "Origin" aren't the band at their best, and they are rather forgettable and provide a temporary lull before going right back to the goods. The riffs on the song "Origin" aren't great either, even though nothing on this album is bad or even below average. The intro track "Never There" is good at setting up this album's style and the lyrical themes, but I would've liked it to transtion into the following song "A Flag To Wave" in a more complete way. It's still a good intro, so I guess I can't complain all that much. Also, some songs on this album end abruptly, but thankfully, as I stated before, there is nothing that is truly bad about "The Way It Ends". Even if the three tracks I mentioned as filler aren't of my liking, they aren't meaningless, and as a whole the sophomore album from Connecticut's most promising metalcore act delivers. The second album from a band is usually where they start to expand upon themselves in order to be a unique face in the crowd. It's this pivotal moment in any band or artist's career where you can easily predict if they are here to make their voice heard or just become a voice that doesn't seem as special. Currents' sophomore project is one of many released this year that proves that they're not only good at delivering what's familiar to metalcore fans, but also make their own mark. Overall, "The Way It Ends" by Currents is a diverse and well-flowing collection of 11 tracks that range from aggressive to melodic. It is not on the level of recent Sharptone Records releases from Loathe and Polaris, but Currents is definitely a band to watch. The way this review will end is with a recommendation to ride this current.

RATING: 8/10

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