The opening track for The Word Alive’s new album Real, is also their latest single, Play the Victim. The song is big and a catchy number with pummelling riffs. It may take a few listens, but you will pick the chorus up after a while and feel like belting it out.
Never Forget heads more down the route of hardcore. It’s heavier than opening track Play the Victim, but it definitely brings in the elements of electronica and post hardcore melodic lyrics on the chorus.
With bold lyrics and a melodic atmospheric scoping guitars, The Fortune Teller is a definitely big hit single release. The band could easily open up the mosh pits and big sing-a-longs with this track live.
Track Terminal leans again towards the more hardcore area vocally, but is very much still electronica with its atmospheric keys. It’s a bit of a different beast entirely in its nature.
The final track on the album is Collapsing. It’s still got many electronica elements and an atmospheric nature to it, but it seems a bit sombre to end on compared to some of the bigger tracks earlier in the record.
The Word Alive seem to like mixing hardcore with electronica, atmospheric texture and more. It’s a sound that’s not heard too much these days anymore, but I must say they seem to execute it quite well. They know to make the chorus big and definitely a sing-along. It’s knowing when to use what sounds for what and they do that quite well.
6/10