Hailing from Reading and on the up-and-coming, Our Fate, carries with them the strong influence of melodic hardcore and post-punk. With their new EP ‘Reflections Of My Past’, they aim to really show their talent and flex those musical muscles.
The opening track, Reflections Of My Past, is immediately a beautiful sonic melody that’s a treat of what’s to come. With its gentle opening that utilises a soft vocal performance and simple yet haunting electric guitar melody, it showcases an immediate softness. But this is replaced by a mirrored sound when the song truly gives way, with its heavier feel and full band sound. Clocking in at just over a minute, it’s only the initial appetiser of what’s to come.
Release The Tide follows up this opening, and this time we really begin to feel that post-punk edge coming through. Utilising much more crunchy and groovy bass, a heavy, chugging guitar, and some breakneck drum beats. It’s an immediate showcase of the flexibility Our Fate has with their sound. The willingness to experiment within their parameters both in genre and in more literal sound (being a 4 piece band with the standard lineup of drums, guitar, bass, and vocals).
As well, they adhere to the punk philosophy of never keeping the track going endlessly for the sake of indulgence, instead keeping it all said and done in under three minutes.
The third track, Undone, is definitely the heaviest so far, with much heavier drum strikes, guitars riffing with heavy notes, big flashy notes being held, and flourishes of sound at every opportunity. From a more technical sense, it’s very intricate and packed full of moments where each member is just putting their own little highlights into the track. The closing moments, in particular, are quite uncanny, with the whole track left hanging on a simple plucking of guitar strings as we freefall directly into the next song.
Our next song Wake Up! continues this fall as we descend into a more introspective track. This time we’re met with a much grander feel, replacing those intricate guitar moments with grand held-out notes that let the vocals really work some magic. It’s reflective of the song theming, with its lyrics about fighting one’s demons and not being trapped by the past.
The second half in particular is filled with guitars that echo off distantly in a high-pitched wail that sends shivers through the listener. Accentuated by a higher vocal delivery, and our first use of backing vocals on the entire EP. This song as a whole could easily be a breakout hit all on its own and could be analysed down to its core components. It’s without a doubt one of the best tracks here, and that’s one hell of a contest.
So, how do you follow up on one of the most haunting and best rock tracks released onto the up-and-coming circuit this year? Simple, you let loose an acoustic track that’s introspective, gentle and fits right in with the theming of the whole EP. Broken does all of these things and more. It walks on a knife edge of falling into something that’s too gentle, and something that’s ready to burst into a grand soundscape once again.
Consisting of mostly acoustic and vocals, with some sprinkling of orchestral moments throughout as the cello and violin breakthrough at moments. But once that two-thirds mark hits, we fall from that aforementioned knife edge, and now we have that grand feel.
With guitars that are powerful but gentle, orchestral sounds breaking through, and a tear-jerking vocal performance. Finally ending how it began, with a simple acoustic guitar, it all ends where it began nearly with nearly five minutes of the gut-wrenching song leaving us hungry for more.
Alone, is the penultimate track, and is once again a different beast altogether. With some of the heaviest beats on the EP immediately making their presence known in the opening seconds. The backing vocals on this track show us that Our Fate isn’t afraid to stray into metal territory, with the harsh vocals hinted at briefly.
We never quite stray too far from the path though, keeping within that melodic rock wheelhouse for the most part. Alone as a track is fantastic and definitely showcases a great sound, full of heavy beats that won’t scare off any none genre fans. It keeps within its lines and is sadly only guilty of following up the two best tracks on the EP.
We close out the EP with EOTW, a track that rounds everything out where it began. With the opening line proclaiming “there’s nowhere left to go, there’s nowhere else”, it’s very fitting as the closing track. EOTW is a clear abbreviation for ‘end of the world’, and it’s ironically the most hopeful track here.
Each track before showcasing something terrible such as being left behind, fighting inner demons, and other such bleak concepts. Instead, EOTW proclaims how you should hold onto your friends. Even musically, the guitars have this much more upbeat feel that picks up the listener and brush off those sad feelings left by the rest of the EP. The incorporation of gang vocals chanting, and backing vocals mixing with main vocals. It’s an ironically hopeful outlook here at the end of the world.
To close out, Reflections Of My Past feels much more like a well-rounded LP than it does an EP. With the latter meaning to be a taster, and the former acting as the full experience. This EP feels like that full experience despite being only seven tracks.
It’s full of hope and heartbreak. With moments that are haunting, uplifting, and tear-jerking. For any fans of rock, post-punk, melodic hardcore, and other such genres, this EP is a must-listen. Our Fate is absolutely one to watch within this sphere of music, with so much talent and heart within their music.
FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM // WEBSITE