CD Review: Ways. - Watching From Afar EP (2016)

In short a hardcore EP with a clear aim: to bring in fresh elements to a well known genre. Ways. carefully thought out their songs and created a listening experience both being familar and surprising alltogether.

Short Introduction

Ways. are a rock / metal / alternative band from Paris, France. In April the band released their debut EP Watching From Afar. The band first came to my attention when I saw their video for the song "Misty Hope" which made me more than looking forward to their first record. A great track and teaser to this EP.

The cover of "Watching From Afar", (c) by Ways. , used with kind permission

Summary

Listening to this very first release of Ways. quickly will let you identify it has a music of the hardcore genre. The typical elements like the harsh vocals and the strong and strict song structures are easily identifiable.

But it's also clear after a short time that the band ever had the idea in their mind to give new impulses to this. There are hacked riffs in there as well as timing variations ("My Blue Stain"), you'll be confronted with silence packed in the loud message of "Misty Hope" just to reach a hardcore half-ballad with "Something to say..." and come to the end with "Twenty First Sectuary" which closes the release with the classic hardcore style but mixed up with a slight fun-riff. I think you'll be surprised to hear how this sounds but it will leave you with a smile and the good feeling behind.

If you still prefer to stick to some old hardcore sounds don't worry: the second track "As A Duty" offers this so the old core of the genre is not forgotten from this band at all.

Player / Purchase-Link


The EP comes around as a pay what you want offer on Bandcamp. Sure you can pick it up for free but please keep in mind that young bands need a push at the start so they can progress further. If you help them out with a few bucks who knows how their next release may sound like? Or how the tracks sound live? You can help to make this happen by giving a amount of your choice.

Other places such as Spotify, iTunes and Google Play can also be used to stream and buy the "Watching From Afar" EP.

Contact Data

Ways. have some nice social outlets up and running out there, you can choice between Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Ways. use silence perfectly on first single

"The music is not in the notes,but the silence in between."

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This quote crossed my Facebook feed some days ago and I think it perfectly fits to the song "Misty Hope" of the Rock/Hardcore band Ways. from Paris (France). This is a unique song! Wow, not many bands manage to put out such unique stuff on the first attempt.

Besides putting the silence on the right places it's also the mixture between softer and heavier guitar parts that makes this track sounding so great. The vocalist put's his all and everything into the vocals and it's one of the few times in a videoclip that I have the feeling to stand in the first row where you can feel the rough energy of the musicians coming directly your way.



This is the first single of the bands upcoming EP named "Watching From Afar" which will be available soon via the Bandcamp page of Ways. That's also the place where you can pick up a free download of "Misty Hope" in the audio format of your choice, so don't miss out this chance to grab a great song.

The cover for the EP "Watching From Afar", (c) by Ways. used with kind permission

Make sure to follow them via Facebook or Twitter as well as Instagram for all the latest updates coming along with the impending EP release.