It's a beautiful sight when an underground band starts making a stir in the music community and gains a larger following. The persistent, DIY bands of any genre deserve a boarder audience for their hard work to be heard by many. Denver post-rockers Abrams are gaining more and more attention thanks to their new album Modern Ways, both by releasing singles via big name extreme music outlets like Kerrang and Metal Injection and reviewing very well on various music blogs and publications. Lust. Love. Loss. the band's 2016 debut, is a straight forward, no frills post-hardcore banger. Their 2017 album Morning, a short yet dense trip through various "post-insert genre here" styles, is a fantastic listen. Fun, angry, sad, and aggressive. Three years later the band returns with Modern Ways and continue to expand on their vast tonality.
The title track sets the pace of the album with a chugging, twangy fuzz riff. Abrams, like other modern heavier inclined bands (like Pallbearer), use single coil equipped guitars to change up the dynamics of their songs. Vocalist/guitarist Zachary Amster's affinity toward the Fender Jazzmaster pays off well in this track."Poison Bullets" features a slide riff supported by the wall of sound bass from Taylor Iversen. On "Joshua Tree" (no relation to U2, which is a good thing), Abrams slows things down and transition into a more atmospheric post-hardcore vibe. The distortion of the rhythm guitars is replaced by cleaner, shimmering chords. Amster showcases his clean vocal chops during the verses. The verse riff is a simple scale run covered in reverb and delay. Drummer Ryan DeWitt keeps a simple beat throughout and gets very cymbal heavy during the chorus.
"That Part of Me" sounds like a B-side from the era of 90s alternative metal in the vein of Helmet. The instrumentation is laid back and Amster's vocals are filtered; almost giving his voice a kind of Zakk Wylde/Black Label Society feel to it oddly enough. "My War" (not a Black Flag cover) and "Pale Moonlight" see Abrams soften up while still maintaining their heavy edge. The focus on clean guitar work on these tracks shows how far the band have evolved since their debut. "Silence" is anything but and is ironically the most loud and aggressive track on the album. The guitar here do not let up. "Find a Way" takes a turn into noise rock, the guitars relying more on bends throughout the song. The doomy "Silver Lake" features huge chords and reverb-drenched clean passages. The ender "Marionette" pulls everything the band have demonstrated on previous tracks under one roof.
Modern Ways definitely deserves all the praises from the various sites and publications touting it. It is a rock-solid and fun listen with facets of post-hardcore that will appeal to veterans and new listeners alike. The album shows that Abrams love what they do and are proud of their work. Hopefully with Modern Ways gaining more ground, Abrams will grab the ear of new listeners.
Stream the album here
Abrams merch here
