(Here’s Wil Cifer‘s review of the new album by the U.S. metallic hardcore band Candy in advance of its June 7th release by Relapse Records.)
It’s cool for a metallic hardcore band like Knocked Loose to be able to ride the hype machine on their way to becoming the next big thing, but Candy’s new album kicks you in the face harder with the kind of experimentation I expected to find on You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. This should not be a surprise as Candy’s 2022 album Heaven is Here was one of my favorite heavy albums of that year.
CANDY by Jason Nocito
While the band do break new ground, they also pay homage to their influences as they not only lean into a more sludge-core guitar tone on “Short-Circuit” but aLSO invited Integrity guitarist Aaron Melnick in to play a few licks.
The guest spots do not end there, though this album does not rely on them for relevance. Justice Tripp of Trapped Under Ice adds his bark to the gang vocals on “You Will Never Get Me”. This song feels like a crushing hardcore breakdown laced with industrial hints in an almost nu-metal fashion. David Gagliardi of Trash Talk yells along on the title track and finds them more committed to this more industrial-minded syncopation that sounds like it was sampled from a Ministry album.
This is all executed not unlike how Code Orange once incorporated similar sounds as they took the turn from Code Orange Kids to full-grown orange adults. The difference here is they are not going for the same hooky formula, and this album retains all of their fury without trying to take you back to the Nineties.
“Love Like Snow” goes in a more electronic direction without compromising the album’s narrative. “Dehumanize Me” kicks you in the face with equal amounts of fury invested in the lyrical attack and the pound of guitars. One of many moments on the album that proves brutality does not mean you must give up catchy grooves. Most modern metalcore bands need to take notes in this regard.
They do abandon restraint at times and blast off into hyper-fast punk explosions where they sound more like every other hardcore band, but they do redeem themselves with mean riffs that turn the dynamics back around. “Silent Collapse’ is the only song where it feels they are overindulgent in their punk rock side.
This album showcases Candy’s strengths as a band, which lie in their ability to temper the hyper aggression of their punk energy with room to breathe in the dark halls of electronic experimentation. They managed to surpass the high bar they already set on their previous album, and once again their lyrical observations regarding the world around them are as heavy as the chords they strike on their instruments.
If you have been a fan of the band, they’re giving you more of what you want, but without recycling it, and a clear vision of where they want to go. If you have not given this band a chance and are a fan of forward-thinking metallic hardcore then you do not have anything to lose and will find this album deserves all the praise that is being heaped upon other bands who are less creative.
Given that this album is being released on Relapse Records, it is not likely to go unnoticed, but the market is reaching a saturation point with metalcore these days, and Candy’s take on the genre should make them stand out from the pack.
https://candygonnadie.bandcamp.com/album/it-s-inside-you
http://facebook.com/candygonnadie