Defeater “Travels” CD

"Travels" is the debut full-length from Boston's Defeater, who I had never heard of before, released by a label I had also never heard of before, Topshelf Records. So, I didn't know what to expect from this one, but the six-panel digipack and eight-page booklet look absolutely awesome, packed with some fucking incredible photography, so I was certainly hoping for/expecting something fairly strong. The result is 11 tracks of that style of contemporary hardcore that's both metallic and extremely melodic, having been compared to bands like Modern Life is War, Comeback Kid, and Verse, which does make some sense. It's an extremely diverse (though cohesive) blend of influences, from its more aggressive and discordant textures and almost straightforward hardcore power chords to its ringing post-hardcore dissonance and energetic bursts of those subtly technical little arpeggiated riffs. Hell, there's even a "folky" acoustic break at the end of "Prophet in Plain Clothes" that seems a little out of place at first, but fits into the narrative of the lyrics and actually settles in pretty well in the context of the whole. It's an impressive debut that sort of takes this lofty, artistic style of hardcore a little farther than most, which is quite promising.

Defeater "Carrying Weight"
Defeater "The City by Dawn"

...with no loss to match his gain, he rolled on to hop that train. That rain fell hard. Chalk the miles from his failure. Trees sway with the weather. Racing heart, slow the beat. Every crossed town line is relief. With no money and no name, state lines, borders, rivers are all the same. The city by dawn, a stranger with no history comes. "Just rest your head where the sun sets. Fade out at sun down."

Topshelf Records (CD)
Interpunk (CD)
RevHQ (CD)
Amazon.com (mp3)