Gainstrive

Refreshing and enjoyable Gainstrive’s latest album, consisting of only five tracks that don’t exceed anything more than 4-5 minutes in duration is such a sweet little album holding up to the old saying “good things come in small packages”. ‘Anywhere but Here’ is well developed and possibly the perfect taste test of this band, it’s just what we need in the alternate-rock scene, as an independent band from Philadelphia they have not disappointed their fans with this new album released on the 17th of March 2018. With lyrics that hit deep within your core, you can’t help but fall in love and forget your surroundings. If you thought they were already amazing, well you’d be correct.

The first song Begin Again starts off quiet and subtle with a short build to a simple 4/4 drum beat similar to a marching band. Their use of melancholy vocals as well as rhythm guitar all hitting your core with a smooth flow drawing you into the song. The lyrics playing through your mind making your heart beat along with the song. It’s a great first track to start the album off, capable of holding its own name within the music scene and yet they still have four great songs to follow on the album. There is plenty of time for epic solos which Gainstrive definitely fits into the song like finishing a puzzle.
Moving on to My Design, the second song on this album, we’re thrown a catchy chorus with a more upbeat combination of drums and guitar with similar qualities of the vocals, quickly nestling its way into my head becoming an earworm after only one listen. With such a repetitive chorus we would hope it doesn’t stay the same all the way through, thankfully Gainstrive have addressed this and answered our hopes with differentiation between the chorus having some parts of the song where all members are playing as a driving force. Just when one would expect to be bored with the repetition, we are given an altered version with only drum and vocals to build suspense and control some of the driving energy of the song.

The next Gainstrive song Beyond Repair gives us an even more upbeat and possibly heavier sound maintaining the same melancholy atmosphere matching in with the previous songs. I found each one growing much more unique and distinguished from the average expectations you’d think about and they have truly gone beyond to provide us with each song being just as awesome as the last, yet somehow still getting better.

Without completely addressing each track the songs that follow after are Everything Ends and Buried Inside which flow with the similar theme of distinguishing Gainstrive from our average expectations, and also diving more into a faster and heavier pace, whilst maintaining the atmosphere set in by the first few tracks. ‘Anywhere But Here’ perfectly captivates their audience with relatable lyrics and soft slow melodies that few could reject.

After disarming their listeners with nice easily expected tracks the band takes a nice incline towards displaying just enough of what could potentially separate Gainstive from the mainstream scene. With galloping riffs and much more upbeat and distorted guitar, drum beats that are supported by the seamless vocals reminiscent of the early cranberries work. All of the bands ideas and emotions are clearly captured and well supported by a clean and smooth mix with no signs of irritation between instruments and no signs of muddy noise. Gainstrive have presented the world with a beautiful album perfect for a nice short drive.
Although they are still developing as a band with new members such as James Blew (Keyboard, Guitar) and Tyler Patchell (Rythm Guitar) joining Kate Walk (Vocals), Kyle Maliszewski (Bass) , Dave Fioravanti (Lead Guitar, Songwriter) and his brother Nick Fioravanti (Drums) they are now the six member band blowing away their fast growing fan base and making it seem easy. Even though Gainstrive has new members ‘Anywhere But Here’ couldn’t be put together any better.

They definitely deserve praise for their achievements in their journey so far and finding their own style, despite being compared to bands like Halestorm or The Pretty Reckless Gainstrive have the ambitions and guitar riffs to say “we are different“. “Anywhere But Here” follows their first full length album which was called “Temporary Decay” Gainstrive is doing an incredible job producing amazing upbeat music that relates strongly with their listeners. The contrast and meanings behind the albums are captured in the album art with ‘Temporary Decay’ having a man falling into a body bag and ‘Anywhere But Here’ having the same man looking into a doorway brighter then where he is, you can let your imagination and their lyrics explain the rest. - Overdrive Music Magazine/ Posted by Rebecca Hootin