The long-awaited debut album from progressive rock band Frantic Endeavor hits all the right notes, with catchy hooks and an array of different genres inspiring their unique sound.
Established in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 2016, the 6-piece drew inspiration from an array of artists such as Rush, Iron Maiden, Paramore and Flyleaf, allowing each member to integrate their own unique sound. Despite only getting together in 2016, the band have played with numerous national touring bands such as ‘Saliva’, ‘Kurt Travis’ (formerly of Dance Gavin Dance), Trapt, I Set My Friends on Fire and Hail The Sun. The sheer creativity enveloping Frantic Endeavor’s sound, from Sierra’s electric violin playing to Lexie’s captivating vocal performances draw the listener in and the tight rhythm section, including Ethan on drums, Cheeze on bass and Wes on guitar, hold that attention. It definitely held the attention of ANR Factory who described the band as ‘“The sound that the talented collective of musicians has achieved is something like you’ve never heard before, each of the 6 musicians has a radically unique stance on their sound.”
The album starts off with ‘Made Up’ a song that grabs you from start to finish and establishes the eccentric tone of the album. It’s hard-hitting rawness perfectly matches the lyrics concerning fake people and their hidden true intentions. ‘Take a Risk’ keeps the ball rolling with its ferocious pop-punk energy before we land on track 3 ‘Let’s Dance’. This track is particularly special to Lexie, who wrote it at only 16 when her little sister had a middle school crush. Lexie describes it as ‘one of the first songs I ever completed that I felt proud of, and my bandmates in Frantic helped me bring it to life’.
There’s a maturity displayed on tracks like ‘My Healing’, a song about a father’s love falling short and breaking free from overbearing love to forge your own path. Surprisingly enough, this is technically the oldest track on the album as it was completed along with the bands first EP. The album ends on a strong note with ‘Empire’, a 7-minute banger inspired by 16-year-old Lexie realising the bad things in life aren’t so bad if you see them from different perspectives. Featuring Midwest emo and ‘A Lot Like Birds’ hints alongside odes to ‘Flyleaf’, this is easily one of the bands most well-written tracks.
Frantic Endeavor’s uniqueness and ability to mould multiple styles and influences into their emotion fuelled ballads puts them a step above a lot of prog bands out there today. With nine viscerally unique and enthralling tracks, ‘Vault 92’ delivers everything you could want from a debut album and more.
Reviewed by Ciarán Coleman
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