Trespassers - Rival Glass [EP] (Cover Artwork)
Staff Review

Trespassers

Rival Glass [EP] (2015)

Spartan Records


Gone are the days when Balance and Composure's Separation was considered a landmark return to form for the grungy post-hardcore genre. Since then bands such as Sainthood Reps and a couple others I'll namedrop bellow have emerged to make their names a bit more known, and rightfully so. Trespassers are another good addition to this stable but again, could fall into the trap of swimming somewhere that's all too saturated.

The opener guests Daisyhead's Michael Roe and it's no surprise how much these bands sound like siblings. Aggressive guitars mixing and matching amid slow, melodic riffs. And again, it's here where "Dead End" starts tipping its hat to Balance and Composure. I've always been a sucker for what they and Jon Simmons did, musically and lyrically, and sure, it's always good to hear new bands following suit, but with some differentiation of course. "No Solace" follows the same musical structure Simmons charted on "Stonehands" a few years ago and it's here that I felt that it was more imitation than flattery.

However, when you take in the driving "Thereafter" it's clear that the band has the chops to go the mile. Distorted, grungy and very accessible. Seems similar to what Citizen did a couple years ago but more airy with a harder edge. Five tracks in and there's a lot of potential on offer but again, with the spate of similar sounds coming out the gates recently, Trespassers are going to have to step it up- Not because they aren't good but because there are so many horses in their race at the moment. This is a good teaser of what they're about, nonetheless.