Review by Shannon Shumaker
Carried by powerful vocals, meaningful lyrics, strong guitar work and crisp, clean production, Sorry, No Sympathy’s new EP, Evolve || Dissolve will serve as the perfect taste test for new listeners and give fans five new tracks to fall in love with. With a sense of frantic urgency, “Last Walk” provides a strong opening for this EP, which feels incredibly full for barely reaching twenty minutes in length.
Becoming more and more powerful as it goes on, “Last Walk” hits its peak during the emotional spoken word bridge before concluding with desperate, emotional screams. Things then shift to a slightly heavier sound on “Complacency,” which touches on letting go and bettering one’s self. Vocally, this track is stunning, transitioning easily between strong harmonies and aggressive screams, and instrumentally, things tend to have a slightly brighter feeling to them, contrasting brilliantly with unclean vocals and incredible bass work.
The strong songwriting on “Complacency” is further explored on the instrumental third track, “Bloom” which serves as a great bridge between the slightly more melodic “Complacency” and the hard hitting “Cognitive Dissonance.” The only real downside of an “interlude” style track on an EP is that it gives the band less time to really drive the message of the album home, but thankfully, “Bloom” doesn’t feel like a waste of space. Then comes the short but sweet fourth song, which begs listeners to give a shit about something, to pay attention to the things that are going on around them – the things that really matter.
Final track, “Tendencies” is the explosive yet dynamic closer. Just when you think this song might fall flat or become one dimensional, it proves to be one of the most powerful and diverse songs on the EP. Clean vocals shake things up before theatrical strings and strong group vocals provide the song with a strong ending. “Tendencies” is just the epic conclusion that you’ll find yourself waiting for as you listen to Evolve || Dissolve, making it feel nearly as powerful as a full length.
Rating: 4.5/5
Listen to “Tendencies”
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