Equal Vision have been one of the most prolific labels of 2004, putting out more records than any other label, probably bar Victory (although quality always comes before quantity and EVR wins hands down on that scale!) this year. Before Today‘s new record was seemingly snuck out without much pomp and ceremony, but it’s arguably one of the label’s best releases yet. Before Today is a traditional fast melodic skate-punk band with hardcore touches and, I’ll be honest, are fucking brilliant. Victor Fuentes can mix the melodic with the screaming, making his sugar-coated vocals sound great when juxtaposed against the harsher moments.
‘Roots Beneath Ideals’ sets the tone rather nicely, before ‘Pierce The Veil’ slows things down a tad, proving the quartet can do more than blow your brains out with machine-gun drumming and some serious guitar shredding. Lyrically the band impress too, focusing more on ideas of self improvement and positive progression, rather than the usual ‘boy-meets-girl’ scenario that is way overdone. ‘Failure Is Relative’ and ‘Shallow Pockets’ are really, really good songs too – the guitar work is very impressive and the drums are simply thunderous.
This album reminds me a little bit of Break The Silence or Between Us, two bands that also put out good records this year. This album is a little gem and anyone with a liking for hard and fast music, loaded with singalong parts, should check this little beauty out. I didn’t really know what to expect, but this record is really, really good and up there with EVR’s best ever releases.
www.beforetoday.net
Equal Vision Records
Paul