Restore

"Restore: to reestablish something, to bring it back to how it once was. To put it into the context of the question, we want to bring back a lot of the honesty, integrity, and passion that we feel genres similar to ours has lost in the last decade or so," says Mike from the very powerful midwest hardcore group, Restore.


"One day a new horizon will emerge from that distant place--in the greater north--the clouds will glow in the gleaming sun."

One of the greatest possessions a local band looking to make some sort of progress can have is integrity as not only musicians, but human beings. From the perspective of someone who may deal with some sort of hardship in life (prejudice, health, money i.e.) Restore in a sense can be comforting to those with hardships. What I mean by this is the message the band weaves into their throaty and delayed but yet agressive music is that a lot of issues that occurred in the past that seem almost barbaric are still occurring today and in that sense one can feel at harmony with the band.

When I asked the bands vocalist Mike O' Neill the track "Blinded" and it's meaning, he responded with views that have bring up many issues. "I wrote about racism and socio-economic issues. Essentially it means that no matter what color you are, or how rich or poor someone might be, we're all human beings and should be treated as such. The part about 'thinning pages' is my way of encouraging people to open up a book and really read into these issues and see how the particular groups, mainly people of color and the underclasses, live so that one can be more enlightened and hopefully rid themselves of any or all of the prejudice they may harbor towards their culture or way of life." Blinded is both Lyrically and musically one of my favorite tracks off of the bands debut EP "Wanderer".

"Throughout the spectrum, from the top and to the bottom, we are one in the same. So shift these thinning pages, sweep free the black and white, and you will see the light."

Wanderers was a very impressive display of agression and emotion on the bands part. It had a re-release of one of my favorite tracks by the band "Defeat.Release" which is a very hard hitting song with tons of catchy melody and smacking drums. Tracks like "Blinded", and "voyages", covered issues that are very refreshing to hear covered in a emotive post-hardcore group. On a overall basis the EP was filled with a lot of high energy, melodic and delayed leads, and distorted and detuned chords all backed up by hard hitting drums that were mixed very well to be sharp and tight.

When I asked the band about any upcoming tours or a full length, they weren't 100% sure about any touring, but a full length is a definite for 2012. "We're currently about 3 songs into our full length that we're hoping to put out, we're aiming for about 8-10 songs. Once we get that out, absolutely we'd be looking to do some shorter tours, as we're still a relatively new band." Being very interested in real world issues being pounded into you by melodic and driving emotional hardcore, Restore was a great find and will remain to be one of my favorite local midwest bands, hopefully we can see them on tour within the near future, spreading words of change and hope to all those who need it.
- Angst In The Industry Records

Restore joined Chicago's Fearless Radio on October 14, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. CDT. Listen to their interview by following the link. - Fearless Radio

Restore is a post-hardcore band from the Chicago area.

Having no idea what to expect, this album immediately got my attention from the get go. My ears were immediately under attack the second “Blinded” began. Excellent vocals and heavy, heavy guitars. But they also maintain that very melodic aspect, which usually is the deciding factor if I listen to a band again in this genre again or not.

As a guitar player, the guitarwork on any album is usually one of the first things I listen for when hearing new music. “No Illusion”, despite being the shortest song on the album, is a standout because of the major riffage going on throughout. “Dead Ends” is a monster of a track and the best song on the EP.

The lack of clean vocals may turn some people off, but I can’t think of many “new” heavier bands that I’d prefer to listen to right now. They put on a clinic on how to use multiple screamers without sounding like a mess of noise. However, some of the songs were a little long for my taste, but they did manage to keep my attention the entire time by not being generic.

Restore reminds me a lot of popular hardcore bands such as Defeater or Have Heart mixed with a band like Our Last Night, but with more complexity in their music. It doesn’t offer a whole lot of “new” to the scene, but Wanderer is solid from start to finish. I must warn you, when you are done listening to it, your ears will feel as though they’ve just been assaulted by a battering ram.

If you’re interested in checking these guys out, they have put their entire EP on Bandcamp for free! - Electric Mohawk

So we decided to turn it up a notch today. What a better way to do that than showcasing a hardcore band? Introducing Illinois’ own Restore and their E.P. “Wanderer.” If you like music with some angst and yelling vocals, this E.P. is right for you.

“Wanderer” is solid and chock full of riffs and fast paced drum beats that will get you pumped! It was hard to pick out our favorite track, but we are going to go with “The Sound Of Sleep” because the guitar parts on this song is freakin awesome!

But we have to make a note though that the cello part at the end of “Voyages” is very captivating and totally caught us by surprise.

We really like finding new bands and artists all the time, and we are glad to have come across Restore and their E.P. and we hope to hear more from this band out of the midwest.

You can download “Wanderer” for free by clicking on the download link on the music player.

Also check out Restore on facebook here: facebook.com/restoremusic

Article by Matthew Dickson
- Migrate Music News

Band Name: Restore
Genre: Hardcore
Hometown: Schaumburg Illinois
Rocks if you like: It Prevails, Thursday, Hundredth

Five friends creating music with heart, message, and purpose is Restore.

www.restoremusic.net
www.restore.bandcamp.com - AMP Magazine