Are you listening?

While going through my blog history to see which bands I’ve yet to cover, I was surprised to find that Emery was one of them. I discovered them back in college when a friend let me listen to a song called ‘Walls’. Their defining song, and still one of their best songs to date (you cannot not head bang to that sick intro and bridge!).

Emery – Walls

I was huge on the scream-sing post-hardcore style back then (still am) and these guys have gotten the formula perfect. Their clean vocalist, Toby Morell has got one of the most memorable voices in the scene, and their guitarists Matt Carter and Devin Shelton do a great job creating punchy and heavy riffs. They’re also extremely versatile and creative, as evident in their later songs like Thrash – where they transition from full on in your face hardcore to smooth jazz towards the end of the song without any warning.

Emery – Thrash

If there’s one thing I like about this band, it’s how well they can pull off different styles without losing their signature sound (Toby’s vocals probably have a lot to do with this). While they’ve identified as a Christian band, their lyrics aren’t extremely in your face and don’t alienate non-believers (similar to Underoath’s music after Spencer joined the band).

While the band has slowed down in recent times, their guitarist Matt Carter has been keeping busy with a couple of podcasts that I listen to (Break It Down and Labeled) and some side projects (Matt and Toby), they’ve got plenty of older material that I keep on my playlist. The band is currently working on their next album and they’ve recently released a book as well. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite cuts from the band so far:

Emery – I’m Not Here For Rage I’m Here For Revenge (feat. JB from August Burns Red)