Having recently joined forces with Small Town Records, playing an extensive amount of shows around Europe and the UK as well as featuring in a number of festivals, Palm Reader have really started to set a name up for themselves. Releasing their debut album, ‘Bad Weather’, the band have set in stone that they are ruthless, brutal and ready to make their mark.
‘Unwanted Guest (Grace pt.1)’ kicks off the album with am ambient distortion of guitars and guttural vocals before pounding into next track ‘Spineless’. Having first been played on Daniel P Carter’s Rock Show on Radio One, ‘Spineless’ is a shining example of British hardcore at it’s best. Maybe hardcore isn’t the best term. It’s better; it’s gutsy, energetic and so awesome. Awesomecore? Yep, that’s more like it!
Track after track, the band throw out monster tracks, each as good as the previous. ‘The Fox and the Crow’ is a levelled balance of fast, pummelling riffs and melodic traits running throughout before descending into the almost haunting twang of ‘Bitter Hostess (Grace pt.2). This solely instrumental track in the middle of the album is a (sort of) welcome rest before blasting straight back into the lairy heaviness of ‘Seeing and Believing are Two Different Things’.
Amongst the speaker shattering riffs of hell, something fresh, totally unexpected and soothing emerges from the dark depths. ‘Noble Host (Grace pt.3)’ is almost ghostly to start off before the clean singing begins. The slow track behind enhances the vocals, making every word stand out with passion and meaning. Progressing into louder, harder riffs but keeping the same melodic tone, the band really show off their emotive side. It’s like this band can pretty much do everything!
Jammed with head banging riffs end-to-end, there’s no time for bullsh*t on this record. Only solid song writing and truly awesome beats. Considering this is the bands debut album, it’s unreal to think what else they have in store for us. Despite being relatively small now, Palm Reader are going to be one of those benchmark bands who set the trends for others to follow. ‘Bad Weather’ is undoubtedly one of the best albums to be released this year so far. Keep your eyes out for this lot, they’re gonna be huge.
Plam Readers new album ‘Bad Waether’ is out now via Small Town Records.
