Wait in Vain is a rare newer-era hardcore band whose makeup reads like an impressive list of bands and less like guyliner and mascara. Vocalist Timm McInotosh was a guitarist for Trial and Champion; guitarist Roger Kilburn has spent time with Love Is Red, Stay Gold and Sinking Ships; fellow guitarist Chris Jacobsen was in Set Your Goals; and the drummer on Seasons' recording, Alexei Rodriguez, has done time with Walls of Jericho, Trial and even 3 Inches of Blood.

With all this experience behind their belts, you'd think Seasons would be a more original release, and it's not -- but the album is done so well, its familiarity becomes more of an endearing trait than a distraction. When McIntosh, who sings in a rather straightforward and gruff delivery, shouts "I remember those days!" in the standout title track, you don't get upset that it practically sounds like a tribute to Chain of Strength's "Too Deep Until Now" (besides the fact that McIntosh is cathartically singing about a friend lost to suicide nearly a decade ago), but rather you happily reminisce (if you're, like, 35) or just get stoked. But through the course of the record, McIntosh is more about poetic desperation and a quest for truth (the God interrogation "Q And...") and never about rehashing straight-edge themes or what have you.

While looking at that above list doesn't always hold true for the base of Wait in Vain's sound, it certainly helps; Seasons carries traces of both Trial and Champion (as well as those bands' elder influences like COS, Judge and Burn), and Kilburn's signature guitar tone often bleeds through, giving the teasing feeling you're listening to new Sinking Ships material. You can simply tell it's him when he starts riffing in "Forget Me Not" and "Puritan," or adds those melodic frills to the aforementioned "Seasons."

Seasons is a very solid and uniform debut, seeing Wait in Vain stretch their creative muscle a bit from their now three-year-old demo and exploring dark and interesting themes through a fresh transitive vibe.

Seasons

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Another Year
A Blind Eye