Album Review: Adept – Sleepless

Piper M. February 10, 2016 215 Comments 743 views 0 likes

As a genre, post-hardcore has gone through a multitude of ups and downs and drastic changes over the years; from the incorporation of more clean vocals and synthesizers, to producers who seemingly shape a band’s sound and the commonly referred to “risecore”. Out of thousands and thousands of artists that come and go in the genre, there’s been plenty of household names and mainstays – bands who create a certain sound and continue to improve upon it album after album. Adept is one of those bands; forming in 2004 they’ve gained a large following after the release of multiple EPs and albums. Their upcoming fifth full-length, Sleepless, has been a whirlwind of label drama, multiple delays and an entire record scrapped and redone and was seemingly speculated of not really existing. Trust us on this; it exists and it’s amazing. The outcome of the turbulence the band faced made this not only their strongest record, but perhaps one of the most raw and real records to come out in ages and sets an early example for album of the year contender.

The way Sleepless starts is, in a single word: hype. “Black Veins” is the first track on the album, and builds from nothing into a swirling mass of energetic melody, accompanied by heartfelt spoken word that fills to the brim and drops into the main drive of the song. From the tone that the intro sets, it’s easy to see that the album is going to be epic. It never really slows down. Adept has taken everything that post-hardcore is made of and blended it perfectly into their style. Powerful (and consistent) screams and cleans, drums and bass that fit with the guitar melodies, breakdowns that you can’t help but groove with, and electronic elements that aren’t intrusive.

Those elements are great, but the best parts of the album are the parts where they do things that are unexpected and progressive to their genre. In this era, it’s not possible to be the best at something by just doing it well, you have to bring in things that aren’t necessarily normal and merge them seamlessly. Adept does this well, and the moments when this happens, really set this album apart. There are even hints of punk vibes scattered throughout tracks. This is truly a genre blending album; offering spoken word and time signature changes which are the best examples of the most powerful moments in Sleepless.

ADEPT – Dark Clouds (Official Video) | Napalm Records

Pre-order the new album “Sleepless” now! http://shop.napalmrecords.com/adept US customers: http://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/store/adept Out 2/19 “Dark Clouds is about being in a depression and more importantly; the way out of it. Having to watch people struggle with this we wanted to illustrate that battle in this video. To show the light in the tunnel.

Sleepless as a whole is as much about energy as it is about rawness and pureness. This is an album straight from the heart; perhaps its message is more impactful because of the ordeals they’ve gone through to get to this point. From the theme of the album to the instrumentation and everything in between, this is not only a good buy, but an extremely recommended one. Sleepless is an album that starts strong and ends strong and doesn’t ever really seem to waver in the middle. If you’re in the mood for some new hype-worthy tracks to listen to, with meaningful lyrics and heavy breakdowns, pick it up. If not, well…you’re missing out.

Sleepless

1. Black Veins
2. Wounds
3. Dark Clouds
4. Carry The Weight
5. Rewind the Tape
6. Down and Out
7. The Choirs of Absolution
8. Lights
9. The Sickness
10. Sleepless
Total Length: 42 Minutes and 53 Seconds

Favorite Track: Sleepless