Why I think ERRA's Neon deserves Album of The Year

I've been seeing allot of comments about potential AOTY, and typically Neon is listed in the top 3 along with Holy Hell, The Silver Scream and Dark Skies. While I love all these albums for different reasons I feel that Neon is something truly unique that sets itself apart in a few different ways.

I think most of us would agree that what makes a great metalcore song is the extremes of emotion it's able to portray. From the rage of JT's lows to the bliss of Jesse's highs, Neon nails the extremes of just about every emotion. Songs like Ghost of Nothing and Breach are dark, reverberating pain while songs like Hyperreality and Monolith are upbeat and catchy as hell.

Another essential element to most metalcore is the almighty breakdown. I think most of us have grown tired of the typical one note ADTR-like chugging (nothing but love for them, though). ERRA has been one of the most innovative bands in this arena. The breakdown at the end of Ultimata and towards the beginning of Valhalla are great examples of this. The recreation of these digital, almost techno sounding spurts that Jesse achieves with just his guitar are what makes these breakdowns truly epic.

As for album art, to me this wins bar none. The entire album booklet is gorgeous, and the music video for Disarray is their best yet, bringing the vapor wave aesthetic to life.

While Drift was more upbeat and generally positive, Neon is a much darker album, like The Wall is to Dark Side of The Moon. Though Drift was phenomenal, Neon represents this band maturing and refining their unique sound, carving out a path for similar bands in the future. Many people have noted the clear influences Architects and Northlane had on this album and it's riffs. Not only do I agree, I think ERRA hits these sounds better than both of them. While I love both HH and Mesmer, Neon sounds to me like the future of metalcore, something I could see people listening to in the Cyber Punk world.

Overall I think this album is a masterpiece that could easily be called "All Killer, No Filler". I've seen allot of comments criticizing the mix, and while I can't say I notice these discrepancies I do think that it shows how strong this album is, that it was received so well regardless.

I love this genre. It's the first music I ever got into when I got the Solid State sampler album for Christmas because my parents thought it was all wholesome, Christian rock. I post on here often and generally listen to metalcore about 80% of the time, and not since Atlas have I listened to an album over and over again like I have with Neon. To me it represents the next stage of this genre's evolution and I'd love to see it become a bigger influence all around.

Submitted December 30, 2018 at 06:03AM by OftenSilentObserver http://bit.ly/2GLXDQ8