Glastonbury quartet Austin Road draw on a wide range of metalcore influences to craft a powerful but engaging sound that they describe as “diverse, emotional and, of course, heavy.”
The four-piece have been in bands for some time, including being part of our former New Band of the Week RUINA. However, that band ended in dispute and they formed Austin Road from the ashes, releasing debut single BRIGHTER THAN A THOUSAND SUNS in October 2023.
On the sound they’ve crafted since, drummer Sam Buckett told us: “Our sound is a tricky one to pinpoint. Each of our songs has a different take on the Metalcore genre, with different directions taken, allowing us to encompass all techniques blasted throughout the sound.”
Our latest taste of this is THRÆLL, which was released last month. It opens up with light guitars over a spoken sample with chugging guitars creeping into the background, before exploding into life with Chris Owens’ intense vocals. A big “bleugh” ushers in a crushing riff over sinister plodding synths, which continue under slow drums as Chris’ vocals take over. That flows into a powerful chorus “Seething, Only just breathing, As I stand, As I stand here.” The intense vocals dominate another verse before building towards several repeats of the big chorus, and the track comes to a calming conclusion as the spoken sample returns.
On the track, Sam said: “It’s received a really good reception so far, with a lot of people commenting on the harmonic composition of the vocals. The song is a journey of emotions with heavy aspects throughout with a harmonic hook designed to stay in your head for days to come.”
THRÆLL follows on from the emotional rollercoaster that is COWARD, released back in May, which opens up with a fun driving riff and a vicious scream before a vicious fast-paced verse. It drops into a tense chorus, before crushing low-tuned chords, unnerving synths and vicious vocals take the intensity to new levels. The pace drops before launching into Chris’ throaty vocals teeing up a powerful, atmospheric conclusion.
The Austin Road diversity shines through in the more melodic but intense ALL IS LOST, the brutal …A CLOUD WITH NO SILVER LINES, which features a filthy low-tuned riff, and the aforementioned huge debut single BRIGHTER THAN A THOUSAND SUNS, which you can check out in the lyric video below.
The Austin Road sound has been influenced by artists as varied as Bleed from Within, Eminem, Architects, Guns N Roses, Metallica and Dua Lipa. And on what inspires them to write music, Sam explains: “All types of emotions aid to the composition of our tracks. Lyrically, Chris is a genius with a pen and paper, designing his phrasing and theme around the general vibe of the track and pacing.”
There’s plenty more to come from Austin Road, who tease us with the promise of new music and upcoming shows coming soon. And Sam added: “We have loads of stuff in the bank ready to go. If anyone has any gig opportunities, hit us up on our socials!”
You can follow Austin Road on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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