Earl Grey are a German hardcore Band and they’re back with their sophomore EP Passing Time. It is a medicore piece of work; they’re not standing out from the crowd and they’re not trying to be inventive with their writing – they have produced the same thing 4 times in a row that seemingly every other band in hardcore has produced. However they do have something a little bit different with their pop punk influences, which is good to hear.
The instrumentation follows a hardcore theme but the pop punk aspects are there, like the snare heavy drums, as demonstrated in Passing Time and the guitar riffs. They have the short, to-the-point heavier songs that pop punk has, whilst also combining aspects of their hardcore influnces. The guitar riffs are complex and fit the song well as do the drums, which compliment the writing rather then just dominate the song. Whilst the band may be using the same recycled formula most hardcore bands are using and their writing style doesn’t change an awful lot, but the songs are well-written and fun to listen to.
The riffs throughout the EP are well-written and will make you move while simultaneously making you really angry and wanting to hardcore dance. The drums throughout are complex; well-constructed and executed, and should be appreciated for how good they are. The bass brings a more pop punk vibe to the songs while helping to make the drops and choruses huge. The vocals are very harsh and sound a little bit like they’re damaging vocal chords, however for the genre they’re effective and work well but maybe some vocal training is in order so the vocalist
can still scream in a year.
Overall its a good and well written EP, it’s just a bit boring and generic. There’s nothing wrong with generic, but it’s make or break time for them and they need to stand out from the crowd. Well written instrumentation and vocal lines can only get you so far, they just need to do something a bit different and stand out a bit more.
7/10
