Speaking In Shadows: The Anchor

Artist: Speaking In Shadows
Title: The Anchor
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 19th October 2015
Reviewed By: Richard Greathead

Nuneaton based Alt-Rockers return to follow up their stage-setting 2014 EP, The Lies We Lead, which garnered them Kerrang! Radio air play and a spot on Keep A Breast UK's Check Your Selfie alongside genre favourites such as Four Year Strong and Man Overboard. 

Even at first glance it's easy to see that The Anchor has the chance to keep the band on the up. From the soaring riffs of opening track Capsized, it's abundantly clear that this isn't the usual fair-to-middling alt-rock EP, with the technical skills and great rhythm to match the powerful vocals of frontman Adam Smith. Following this comes Scatter, showing off a sound that shifts from uplifting guitar to a more mellow and almost emotive hardcore style and then back again. This brought up more than a small thought of bands like Funeral For A Friend but still managed to feel original. 

After the brilliant opening Figure of Eighty feels like more of the same, but with a sound like this that is nothing but a good thing. The track features the same two-part mix of uplifting vocals and head bouncing instrumentals. This winning formula is perfectly presented in Bite, a moshpit-fuelling and uplifting track that definitely fulfils the bands mission statement for this EP of "No agendas, no concepts, no gimmicks." With riffs and drum beats that would put many a heavier band to shame, it is definitely the stand out track on The Anchor and one of the best tracks in this band's back catalogue as well. 

Sadly the promise of the earlier tracks trails off towards the end, with penultimate number And Grit sounding a little too much like a 90s emo track, and not taking advantage of Adam Smith's powerful vocal range. There's a strangely anaemic guitar part too, which fails to lift the song to as high a standard as the earlier tracks on the EP. Thankfully final track Easy For You is a slight improvement, with a brilliant melody underpinning the heartfelt track and giving The Anchor a great mellow ending, but one that definitely leaves no doubt that Speaking in Shadows have only just started to scratch the surface of their potential.