Salvation Obey The Brave

• 1Short Fuse01:42
• 2Raise Your Voice03:36
• 3Up In Smoke03:31
• 4Into The Storm03:12
• 5Next Level03:22
• 6Back In The Day03:13
• 7I Am Winter03:22
• 8Lone Wolf03:39
• 9C'est La Vie03:30
• 10Full Circle03:35
• 11North Strong03:23
• 12Brave The Fire04:13
• Total Runtime40:18

Info for Salvation

Salvation is the follow-up to Obey The Brave's debut album Young Blood. Aggressive might, old-school attitude and pit-demolishing anthems propel Salvation, which brims with the chemistry and unified vision. Obey The Brave crafted touring the world with bands like Chelsea Grin, Emmure, We Came As Romans, Blessthefall, Counterparts, Stick To Your Guns, Stray From The Path and more. Salvation is the fully realized sound of a band whose identity has been cemented and operating with renewed vigor and fire.

“Salvation represents us more accurately, as people, lyrically and musically,” declares front man Alex Erian. “It’s got a bit more punk rock influence, a bit more hardcore. Deep down, we still have metal elements. We consider ourselves a metalcore band. We grew up in the hardcore scene, in the punk rock scene, and enjoy it all.”

"Upon hearing "Short Fuse," the opening track of Obey the Brave's sophomore album, Salvation, it would be easy to think that you've stumbled upon a lost gem from that magic moment in the '90s when hardcore and thrash took the Youth Crew sound in a whole new direction. With its blunt, straightforward heaviness, gang vocals, and bellowing violence, the album proves that this is one band that understands what metalcore is all about. Although the album is punctuated with forays into melodic hardcore, like the soaring choruses of "Up in Smoke" or the plaintive rock of "Lone Wolf," the Salvation always keeps one eye pointed toward aggression, so no matter how far Obey the Brave's sound might wander, it always returns to the mosh pit. Although it would be easy to dismiss these moments of melody as simply taking away from the heaviness, they serve a crucial function in the formula Obey the Brave are working with, allowing the album to climb rapturously upwards before it comes crashing down to earth with the full force of a punishing, classic hardcore breakdown. It also means that, while Salvation might sound like an album from the early days of Victory Records, it doesn't necessarily sound old. By putting in these little moments of lightness here and there, Obey the Brave add a level of dynamic nuance that bands like Earth Crisis never reached. This makes Salvation a more evolved take on classic metalcore that hardcore fans of any era will be able to appreciate briefly as they're being caught up in the whirlwind of a circle pit." (Gregory Heaney, AMG)

Obey The Brave

“Not trying to reinvent the wheel – we keep it simple, we keep it real.” Less than a minute into “Lifestyle,” the opening track of Obey The Brave’s debut full-length Young Blood, vocalist Alex Erian delivers these lyrics with the utmost conviction and, in turn, lets listeners know exactly what’s in store over the course of the album’s 11 offerings.

Based in Montreal and Ottawa, Obey The Brave first emerged onto the landscape of aggressive audio at the foot of 2012, combining some ex-members of heralded deathcore outfit Despised Icon and metalcore quintet Blind Witness. “We were all just really hungry to keep making music and get back out on the road,” Erian says of the union. “We all love this game.”

Erian and former Blind Witness axeman John Campbell first started exchanging musical ideas in 2011 after both were free of their previous projects. Says Erian: “We didn’t really know where we were headed, but as we wrote, things became more and more concrete.” With the addition of Greg Wood on guitar, Stevie Morotti on drums, and Campbell’s fellow Blind Witness alumnus Miguel Lepage on bass, the members’ varied backgrounds sprouted a mosaic-like melee of components from various classifications of heavy music. “It came about really naturally,” says Erian of Obey The Brave’s formation and subsequent style. “”We’re all over the place in terms of influences, so we just let this take the shape it wanted to.”

Young Blood, recorded by Ion Dissonance members and OTB friends Antoine Lussier and Yanic Desgroseillers, is one hell of a first impression for fans of heavy music. It’s metalcore that leans more towards the “core” and, like Erian’s aforementioned lyrics make clear, the appeal doesn’t come from anything revolutionary, but rather the ferocity and passion with which these familiar elements are combined and delivered.

Tracks like “Get Real,” which features Terror’s Scott Vogel on guest vocals, pay homage to ‘90s hardcore while peppering in more modern elements like massive metalcore breakdowns and an always-driving beat. “Time For A Change,” while still including hardcore staples like riotous gang vocals and another of the album’s brick-and-mortar breakdowns, showcases some smooth lead lines during its more melodic outro. “Live and Learn,” the album’s first single, is a well-rounded representation of Obey The Brave’s bare bones, progressing from blistering double-kick blasts throughout its opening verse to some tasty breakdowns and another rather musical outro that adds an extra dimension to an otherwise relentless track.

“Everything that came out of me was about rising above what was getting me down,” Erian says about his lyrical approach to the effort, which matches the music in its urgency and intensity while incorporating a more positive perspective. “It’s about staying strong and sticking to your roots – doing whatever you’ve gotta do to make it through the day.” The band plans to tour heavily in support of Young Blood, first within Canada and then extending their reach with runs across the US and Europe. “We’re all really excited to have the opportunity to do this all over again,” Erian says of getting back out on the road. “We’re just staying humble and trying to pay our dues.”

Asked to describe Obey The Brave’s stage show, Erian keeps it brief and blunt: “Pure fucking chaos, man.” He elaborates: “We’re a live band; our music is made for the stage, so what you hear on the record is an accurate take on that. It’s a very raw approach.” And the “raw approach” is one that extends beyond this release to the band members’ overall take on their art. This is straight-ahead, mosh-inducing metalcore – unfeigned, unpretentious, and most of all, unrelenting.

This album contains no booklet.