Premiere: Advocates debut new vocalist, Tom Armstrong (Earthbound) on 'Dreamstate'

A new era of Advocates begins with 'Dreamstate,' with a new face at the helm.

There's been a big gap of time between the last time we heard from Melbourne metalcore outfit, Advocates, and that almost seems intentional given that newest single, 'Dreamstate' is a song all about time. 'Dreamstate' hones right in on "waking up to yourself" from that state of metaphorical living - been on autopilot, going through the motions instead of really living - and shifting that personal paradigm away from our own destructive behaviour's as best as we can. This is a pretty consistent theme with the Australian band's lyrics from two of their more recent(ish) singles, 'Wither' (2017) and 'Detachment' (2018).

Much like this slick new songs theme of there being a 'shock to the system,' there's also been a real upheaval with the group's line-up. The final release with former vocalist Detlyn Raven was last year's vicious stand-alone piece, 'Abaddon,' but this fresh release debuts the band's new frontman, Tom Armstrong, from fellow Aussie metalcore act, Earthbound. Tom fills the old shoes of Detlyn strongly, really gelling with the tone and feel of Advocates' djent-adjacent, proggy-loving metalcore, bringing with him more pitched-vocals and higher screams to match the bending riffage and the storming instrumentals. (Given his other bands sound, I'd be shocked if that wasn't the case.) 'Dreamstate' is quite on-brand for Advocates, feeling well-informed by both their darker, heavier earlier works and the more melodic, riffy and polished nature of their last trio of singles. Familiar but fun. Bit of the old, bit of the new, with a big new moment in the underrated group's lifespan debuted powerfully. Oh, and the clock-ticking breakdown that closes out the song is, simply put, fucking HARD!

Advocates told us a little about where the group's headspace has been at lately in-between vocalists, and how much of a perfect fit that Tom was for them right off the bat, saying:

"After Detlyn left, we kind of took stock and discussed whether we even wanted to continue with Advocates at all. There were many instances that we thought it might be the end, but we were sitting on a bunch of new material that we really believed in and knew had to see the light of day. We knew of Tom after playing a few shows with his other band Earthbound and we always thought his vocals were incredible, so we decided to reach out and see if he would be interested in meeting up. He ended up laying down some pre pro vocals for Dreamstate on the first meeting and his voice just fit perfectly with the vibe we were going for, the rest is history!"

Tom Armstrong commented on his eagerness of now being at the vocal helm Advocates, and at his excitement at the new track:

"I was super stoked to be approached by the Advocates boys and having them ask me if I would be interested in stepping in to fill the BIG shoes of Detlyn. When I came in to check out their new plans for the music, Dream State was the first track that they showed me and I loved it from the get go. I couldn't wait to get into laying down vocal tracking for it. I'm super keen to keep working with the fellas to put out more content, and I'm hoping that the fans enjoy whats to come."

Wake from the dream with Advocates latest single below: