New Zealand’s metal scene is never really given much of a chance to show what it’s capable of. While Australia has had a lot of success with exports such as I Killed The Prom Queen and Ocean Grove, the closest that New Zealand have really had has been early 2000s nu metallers Blindspott. One band hoping to change all that now, however, is Seas of Conflict with their new EP Vestige.
From the outset, Seas of Conflict kick off their metalcore rampage with aplomb. Opener “Temporal Ocean” isn’t the most unique song you’ll ever hear, although the multitude of layers within the song will give you something new to discover each time, with frontman Kody Naidoo almost replicating Joe Duplantier’s distinctive vocal style in the chorus. You need to listen to this EP more than once to truly appreciate everything that’s going on in the background as you notice the impressive range of Naidoo’s vocals, or the conflicting guitars of Declan Storrie and Michael Thomson that lace each song.
I do find it something of a disappointment that the band feel so content to fall into the comfort zone of metalcore that is generic chugging riffs during the verses, as the choruses and instrumental sections of each song show that the band is capable of so much more, and pushing metalcore into territories that not enough bands in the scene have dared to tread before. The worst offender on the EP, though, is middle track “Lightless”. Every part of it just feels like something we’ve all heard enough times before, from the near-deathcore breakdowns to the melodic turn halfway through. It feels like all the progressive elements that they’d put into the preceding tracks have just been forgotten and sends the whole EP several steps back as a consequence. “Shifting Sands” feels like it starts to take the band back in the right direction but still has the same pitfalls as “Lightless” and they just don’t seem to recover fully from that middle dip, even with the strong finish of “Water’s Edge”.
Despite these criticisms, though, this is a good EP. The opening two tracks and “Water’s Edge”, in particular, stand as highlights which showcase just what the band could be capable of if they focussed on the more progressive elements of their music, utilised Kody Naidoo’s impressive screaming range and managed to avoid the typical metalcore tropes that too many bands fall into. As a pay-what-you-want EP, you have nothing to lose by supporting them. You can check it out below.