Release Date: April 21, 2023
Genre: Post-Hardcore, Metalcore
Label: Long Branch Records As Everything Unfolds -a post-hardcore/metalcore band based out of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England- will release their much anticipated second studio record, Ultraviolet, under Long Branch Records, on April 21st, 2023. As Everything Unfolds has been a band for a while, with the release of two self-released EPs and a decent release of their last record, Within Each Lies The Other (2021). New and old fans were ecstatic to get a new release so soon. As Everything Unfolds is starting to get noticed more and more, earning some festival spots across the UK and Europe, including Download Festival, Graspop, and Rock For People, as well as a nomination for Best British Newcomer at the Heavy Music Awards. I'd suggest this As Everything Unfolds record compared to the last one, and I hope they promote and tour so much for this record, as I feel this record for them in this stage as a band will get this band to the next level that is needed.
The album starts off with the title track, "Ultraviolet," with huge hard guitars and drums coming straight in but then leads into a turntable that feels like it's back to the early 2000s listening to Linkin Park. Charlie -the band's vocalist- comes into it with the calmer tone of vocals to start it off but leads into a huge chorus that represents a good start to the record. After the chorus, it goes into this metal clean scream rap but then leads back into calmer tone vocals. I loved hearing the dynamics from the different ranges from Charlie that you'll tend to notice more on the record that I felt was more prominent in older works from the EPs that I remember.
"Felt Like Home" has to be my favourite track when the singles were coming out for the record. That chorus just gets me every time, and it's such a catchy and hard-hooking chorus, with it feeling like an arena rock song, but in reality, it's not. The piano and guitars in the background for the second verse just hit it right. Loved the last chorus with Charlie's soft vocals right at the start. If this one isn't everyone's favourite when it comes to the singles they got to rethink that because this hits hard in the car, especially. I'll be shocked if "Slow Down" doesn't get big on social media, especially right now, as Linkin Park has just released their 20th-anniversary version of Meteora. This song the beginning instrumental feels like old Linkin Park with that old style. I'm not much of a fan when Charlie is kind of "scream talking" with the lines of, "As I lay it out will you shoot me down / Heavy is the head that wears the crown." I kind of wish she just screamed those lines in the song instead. Nonetheless, I'm not a lyrical genius. Either way, that chorus goes hard with the instrumental, and it sets a good tone. The last chorus is more choir/softer tone vibes, as I wish the band ventured more of their music in a kind of style similar song from the band Bad Omens' "The Grey" that I feel Charlie can totally benefit from something similar to that in the future that I would love to hear if they venture that. "Saint Or Rogue" feels like a more filler album track that it's good to listen to once in a while, more with a rock sound from the guitars, that I hear throughout the track. They have those kinds of songs in the back catalogue I remember, that past fans will enjoy. It has some little screams here and there throughout that I can appreciate. "Blossom" goes in a higher registry that we hear from Charlie. My favourite lines from the song as Charlie sang them beautifully have to be the first verse, "Cry it out, cry it out / Let it run, let it run / As I'm screaming out, face down the barrel of a gun." This song is kind of hard to hear Charlie's vocals when it comes to the first chorus. I hear more of the instrumental -it wasn't mixed properly for that part but it's a great song that you can't miss when listening to this record.
"Infared" is an interlude to the record with some futuristic guitars and a similar futuristic vocal style that I heard from early Starset records that I hear, which is interesting. "Flip Side" starts off hard and continues to go hard throughout the song but with a similar style throughout the album with a soft chorus. This song does go back to that "talk screaming" style as "Slow Down" for a few verses, but this song executes it a lot better than how it should have been in the previous song. All the screams throughout this song are Charlie's vocals -she can scream, and I loved it! The very start of "Twilight" kind of gives off like, "Hey, you want people to go crazy in the pit at this moment? Okay, here's a moment for that." The chorus for this song doesn't grab me like previous songs on Ultraviolet. But what grabs me, as I mentioned earlier, is those verses and especially in this song those verses just grab you in. The chorus kind of reminds me of a similar taste in pop-punk songs, but they went hard with the instrumental. I loved the back half of the song, when you hear the lyrics, "Don't say, don't want it, don't wake it." As they kind of experimented a little bit, kind of building it up to the biggest breakdown from the record in the back half.
"Rose Bouquets" is the calmest track on the record with its instrumental and vocal style, it;s a head-bopper song I can get with it but doesn't grab me as previous tracks. Kind of a similar take as I have with "Saint Or Rogue" for this song but feels almost repetitive near the ending. "Daylight" starts with just a drum kit and shaker then brings in kind of what almost sounds like an older western guitar riff, but it's not. Loved hearing the atmospheric background of Charlie singing the words, "Can you feel the night setting in," at the very start. The whole song has that eerie atmospheric vibe that I was looking for in the band when I mentioned my Bad Omens reference and this track deserves that with this first verse, especially giving that with the lyrics, "Let it have the truth," and goes into that huge eerie chorus. Loved Charlie singing the line, "Can you feel the daylight setting in." Then, she started singing "Daylight" repeatedly but has some amazing "ohs and woahs" within it that gave me goosebumps my first listen. This song is my favourite from the record and easily beats "Felt Like Home" and I didn't think that song could be topped. This song I feel like "The Gray" from Bad Omens as well, but a little faster and darker toned to give that sense and I think a better replay value for the song. I was just thinking to myself that this song also gives that dark tone setting as Thrice's "Black Honey," but if this was done acoustically, it would set that tone beautifully for it.
Last on the record is "All I've Ever Known." Another start of a song on the album with similar pop-punk and rock elements for the intro. It's another good energetic track, and brings up more of the vibes than the darker tone that was set in "Daylight." I would love to see like a homemade music video. That's what this song gives me from those DIY bands, and such as this song is perfect for that. It has a very huge ending verse when it comes to this song compared to larger middle or intro verses.
Overall, I loved this record. I probably will be coming back to a lot of these tracks throughout the year, I would say for myself. I hope the band tours this record for a couple of years in different parts of the world, not doing small tours. As I feel like this is the record to finally show people who this band is and why they deserve the success that they do. Would love to see them come across the pond to Canada to do a full Canadian tour, not just the simple two or three cities that we typically see from various bands when they tour Canada. I'm talking about a full Headline tour across the country - I would love to see it in the possible future. Either way, if As Everything Unfolds does read this, great work guys, and I'm looking forward to future projects that you guys continue working on.
