PARITY - Ocean

Parity - Ocean

4 songs
19:08 minutes
***** ***
(self-released)

Bandpage

Founded in 2018, Luxembourgish metal band Parity first made a name for themselves in 2019 by playing a couple of local and regional shows before they felt ready to release their first EP. Ocean contains four tracks that display the quintet’s wide array of influences that can be summed up as progressive modern metal.

Parity should still be considered a young band, because until last year they were allowed to perform at the youth talent competition Screaming Fields. And yet their guitarists have had previous experience in thrash metal band Dystopian Fear and death metal band Heaven’s Scum. The switch from more traditional metal to a more contemporary sound is due to the new constellation, fronted by vocalist Sandra. Her performance covers everything from fierce evil screams to melodic singing, and although some of it still feels a little rough around the edges, she must be considered a highly promising talent that feels like a fresh breath of air in a country where most female metal vocalists can only be found in symphonic metal bands. The sound of the EP is also very decent, courtesy of guitarist Marc who has lately also recorded music for a lot of other local metal bands.

On to the songs now, starting with the opener Evolution, beginning with a moody intro, before the guitars join in, and the bass guitar delivers a hard-hitting low note, followed by the precise drum playing. The vocals are harsh and somewhat evil sounding during the verse, but become melodic for the chorus. There is even an unexpected guitar solo that you don’t hear so often in that genre. The following Helping Hand is a downright brutal track, showing the band from its most aggressive side, before the title tracks takes a 180-degree turn, surprising with a moody, melancholic track where the screamed vocals only join in later. This is Parity at their most progressive! The concluding Perception has sampled spoken word parts, and otherwise reminds of the opener, except that this concluding track has a more memorable melodic part, reminding maybe of Guano Apes, but then I am not truly an expert in the genre.

Considering that Parity haven’t been around for that long, Ocean is a promising showcase by five young artists that have decided to take progressive modern metal and adding their own patina with elements of alternative rock, djent and brutal metal. The album sounds good enough for a first effort, and I am certain that experience will turn Parity into one of Luxembourg’s most intriguing metal bands.

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