Close To Home Release "Momentum"

Close To Home just released their brand new full length album today via Artery Records/Razor & Tie, and the "momentum" is picking up. Momentum is the fifth release the band has put out since its birth in 2006 and is everything we could have expected from the group and more. The album has a mixture of feelings from a soothing intro track to hardcore, metal riffs and downright insane vocals, both clean and screaming.

The album starts out with a short intro track called "Make It Count" containing a melodic piano, momentum picking up slightly halfway through the song, and the last few seconds it starts to break down into the beginning of the next song "Don't Waste Your Breath" and an incredible choir of voices.

Throughout the album, the band uses several different extremely catchy choruses, both instrumental and vocal, and really draws in the listener, keeping their attention throughout and making them want to keep listening.

The album also contains a number of breakdowns that I found myself stomping my feet and banging my head to without realization until the writing of this post.

If you had a chance to listen to the two singles the band released already from this album, "Backstabbers Need Not Apply" and "Family Ties," you can hear how the overall feel and listen has changed from what we've seen previously. This may have a large part to do with the departure of vocalist Nick Stiens earlier this year and the coming of Andrew DeNeef who replaced him. But it seems more than just the vocals. We're seeing a whole different side of Close To Home, and it really excites me.

In some of their former EPs and in their first full length album "Never Back Down," I saw Close To Home as kind of a pop/punk/rock band who reminded me a great deal of A Day To Remember. However, they were still unique in their own way and what really stood out to me was their mixture of a vocal style of screaming and singing, almost yelling in a way.

What we see now in Momentum is something completely different, something more than just a change of vocalists, and I really like what their putting out.

The incorporation of special guest vocals (Dave Stephens and Kyle Pavone of We Came As Romans) is also a huge plus to me.

The two singles they've already released definitely did their job to preview what you can expect to hear when listening to Momentum. But these two tracks don't embody the fullness and newness that the full album brings. One thing that I really enjoyed was the synth they incorporated into some of their songs such as "Young & Stupid."

Overall, the album is an incredible listen, both refreshing and dirty. Easily one of my favorite releases of the year.
You can get Momentum now on iTunes.


- Steve