Album Review: As Cities Burn – Scream Through The Walls

US post-hardcore veterans As Cities Burn have returned with their first album in ten long years, Scream Through The Walls, that will be released on the 7th June via Equal Vision Records in the US and Rude Records in Europe. Scream Through The Walls marks not just the end of a decade-long absence from the band, but it is also the first album to feature the Bonnette Brothers, TJ and Cody, collaborating since the band’s 2005 debut full Length, Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest.

What will certainly excite fans of As Cities Burn about this release is the return of the Bonnette siblings to twin vocal duties, something that will take fans back to days of their debut album, but Scream Through The Walls is no retrospective of the band’s formative years. The opening track Live Convinced is an obvious live opener as it builds the tension and expectation before letting loose, the album continues to to blend the abrasive style of post-hardcore with polished rock touches that features the long awaited return of the Bonnette brothers contrasting vocal styles. If you’re looking for highlights, Chains is an obvious contender with its staccato post hardcore melodic attack, also embedded in the album is this track’s polar opposite, the dark brooding Blind Spots.

As with many acts right now As Cities Burn‘s music is a reaction to the ending of rights and services that is impacting on the most vulnerable in society, with Scream Through The Walls the band are pushing against the mental barriers erected when struggling through one’s darkest moments. Whilst it’s good to see As Cities Burn getting back to their roots to some degree Scream Through The Walls loses some of it’s impact through overproduction, I can’t help feeling that this would have been a harder hitting album with a rawer touch to the mix, but it’s still good to have them back.

Scream Through The Walls can be pre-ordered here

As Cities Burn‘s website is located here