Album Review: Vices - 'We'll Make It Through This'

14 November 2014 | 5:04 pm | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

Vices are still go!

Sometimes being shorter is best. Obviously not in the case of being too short to ride the brand new pants soiling, sensory overloading roller coaster in town. But in the case of hardcore, it's perfectly fine to be short.

The second album from Vices is just under 20 minutes long. Just think of all the things you could do in that 20 minutes! You could waste it re-watching half of an old Game Of Thrones episode, you could whip up 10 packs of two minutes noodles, or you could listen through the band's first album. But better than all of that (especially the GOT part), you can listen through this little beauty of an album! It's just simple maths, people.

The longest song on 'We'll Make It Through This' is the title track (at around three minutes) while the shortest, ‘Sustain’ is only 53 fucking seconds long. That's taking the idea of 'quality over quantity' and taking it to the most extreme degree. But the quality really is there, and it sure is some quality...err, quality.

Kicking off the album are the two double-hitters, ‘Sustain’ and ‘Vagrant’, two short, punchy one minute offerings that hit you like an elegant blindsiding spin quick to the head (admit it, we’ve all been there). These two really make a great start to the sophomore release. However, it’d be silly to expect that the band was going to throw their sound completely on its head. So ‘We’ll Make It Through This’ is definitely similar to its predecessor, ‘Between My Mind & The World’, but it is also a big step up from it. Namely the fact that there are now no breakdowns or heavy growls in their sound, and at first this may seem like a glaring absence, but be rest assured, it’ll come to grow on you and the memories of older songs like 'Home' and 'An Apology' will fade into these new classics.

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Song wise, these are some of the band's best work. ‘Betrayal’ is quite a personal track and it’s the band being fierce and on-point. ‘Permanence’ is a heavier, head-bobbing moment. This one in particular sounds quintessentially like Counterparts, but then again Counterparts are fucking awesome, so it’s okay Vices, you’re not the only ones! Hell, even ‘Wanderlust’  - which is your typical on-the-road touring song – is a fantastic track. In fact, unlike the first album, there’s not a band song on this new effort.

The darker tone of the record is actually quite confronting at times. The group's debut album was self-reflective and emotional but ultimately positive and relatable. But for album number two, things are still relatable, but in a more serious, universal way.

The lyrics and their maladjusted view of society is an interesting theme and it sits super comfortably within the realm of hardcore and punk. Lyrics like, ‘We carry them on our shoulders, but they still give the orders’ in ‘Slavery’, or on ‘Fields’ with, ‘We will never be rich until the least of us doesn’t have to kill and steal to eat with us’ really do stand out. Even though it may all come off a little grim, moments like these make the album that much stronger.

Don’t fret though, you can still punk-jump to these songs for hours on end, and after all, that's what we always wanted, wasn't it?

So in closing: Vices is love. Vices is life. And chances are you aren't too cool to listen to this sweet, sweet album. 

1. Sustain

2. Vagrant

3. Permanence

4. Betrayal

5. Fields

6. Slavery

7. Cursed

8. We’ll Make It Through This

9. Resilient

10. Wanderlust

11. Failure