Album Review: The Bride - 'Ambassadors'

The Bride have experienced a rapid leap in evolution in the past couple of years. Taking a similar route to bands like Architects, the band has gradually shifted away from the abrasive, chugging dissonance that characterised their original material, favouring a sound that interchangeably pegs its tents in the realms of hardcore and melodic hardcore. Whilst arguably less technical on paper, this new direction has seen the band’s popularity explode in the last twelve months, rapidly propelled by their signing to Australian heavyweight label UNFD and their generally well-received debut album, ‘President Rd’. Their latest effort is ‘Ambassadors’, a stand-alone single that seeks to further entrench their foothold in the domestic heavy music scene.

Continuing the trend of the band’s most recent material, ‘Ambassadors’ is a short, blistering hardcore song that is augmented by several large nods to the metalcore influences of their early career. Frontman Kevin Schultz has flattened out the harsh, piercing harpy screams and low, guttural growls that were championed by the band’s previous vocalist. Whilst lacking in overall variety, his technique is anchored by an ability to inject a driving, forceful personality into the band’s music, making the track memorable and more accessible. His assumption of a laid back, mid-pitch scream is a stone’s throw away from the technique of conventional hardcore bands, echoing the powerful, full-bodied technique of vocalists like Ed McRae of Your Demise.

Instrumentally, the track continues to shift the band towards a more unadulterated hardcore sound, bookending itself with a bouncing hard riff complimented by hard-hitting kick drums that mirror the rhythm of the guitars. Steady snare hits lead the track into a verse characterised by chugging, low register guitar chords played with shifting, truncated patterns and complex, rapid-fire drumlines. It is clear that The Bride have not completely neglected the considerable influence that bands like Misery Signals have had on their music, shown through their use of abrasive, metallic accents, punctuating bends and a descent into a massive, dissonant breakdown. Despite these concessions to a heavier style, the catchiness of the riff lends ‘Ambassadors’ a melodic template that will be easily digestible by the band’s fans.

The Bride have continued their winning streak with ‘Ambassadors’, a new release that continues to shift their sound away from the complex, metalcore-infused style of their earliest material. Rooted in the conventions of hardcore, the single is fun, melodic and accessible, whilst still maintaining a harsher, metallic edge that helps to give the band a personality of their own.

1. Ambassadors