Comrades have been around for more than a decade, what started as a post-hardcore band in Virginia in 2008, have now shifted its base to Colorado. “For We Are Not Yet, We Are Only Becoming” is their sophomore album, which was released under the banner of Facedown Records and hit the stores on the 7^th June 2019.  The band essentially comprises of the Husband-Wife duo Laura & Joe McElroy and John Gaskill (of Life In Your Way, Endeavor and Converyor fame). The band have had many ups and downs, they’ve toured quite extensively and list close to 50 tours. They list Beloved, As Cities Burn, The Fall of Troy, Red Sparrows, Russian Circles and Thrice as some of their influences.

On Social media they quoted “Our music is, like any art, an outward flowing of what is within us. It has always been influenced by our faith, and something we all feel strongly about is trying to reconcile the differences of well-intentioned people on both sides of that fence, and simply trying to be the example our faith has taught us to be. We hope that we can be a light, and give encouragement, hope, and provoke thought, no matter what your worldview or affiliation.” They list their music to be emotionally charged with powerful lyrics.

To be honest, this is the first time I’m listening to them, and I will try to keep an open mind and not be swayed with what is being said about this album. The first song on this album “Fault Lines” catches you with a beautiful melody which takes time to build up and Laura stuns you with her melodic voice. The screams didn’t quite fall in place, maybe I was expecting it to be matched with distortion for it to land and leave its impact. “Rest” manages to juggle the acoustic and distorted bits quite well, and Laura drives the song forward with her hypnotic voice which is accentuated by a soulful melody on the guitars. Continue reading »