Review: Less Than None – Identity Fading

Bronx metalcore band Less Than None released their EP earlier this month through Sonic Decoy Records, and have been issuing singles as part of the album rollout. The 6 track EP features some really great songs and is the band’s most polished effort to date. Let’s take a look at each song.

The EP kicks off with “Charon’s Toll”, an intro track that sets the somber tone for the record. The first song is track two, “A Beautiful Nightmare”. The song kicks the EP off by kicking straight into the mixture of clean and growling vocals along with the mixture of chugging and tapping guitars that are so common in metalcore. The gang vocals are a nice touch in this song as well. The song is also quite prolific, clocking in at just under five minutes, the longest offering on the EP.

Next up is the single “Aware”. This song feels very hard rock radio ready, with a great mix, a great riff, and a soaring vocal chorus. This song has some touches of metalcore chugging guitars and growls but stripped away, this is just a really great rock song. The song again seems to overextend its welcome, there seems to be a good ending spot right at the 3-and-a-half-minute mark, only for it to outro for another 45 seconds. Never let it be said that Less Than None doesn’t make a meal out of their music.

Track four is the band’s current single, “Aquarius”. The single starts as a ballad before becoming a more full-time rock song. This song is very well written and performed. The mix on this track is also particularly well done. There is also a pretty inventive guitar solo on the back half. This track also sticks the landing at the end as well.

“Twenty” starts with an acapella singing and clapping intro that is sugary sweet. If you hadn’t heard the rest of the EP, you wouldn’t be wrong to assume that Less Than None leans more towards Fall Out Boy than Atreyu. There are for sure some A Day To Remember fingerprints in the DNA of “Twenty”. This is by far the catchiest and most playful song on the album, and judging by the numbers, it appears to be a fan favorite as well.

The EP closes with the title track, which brings us back to the somber and hard hitting nature of the intro and reminds us why we are here. “It’s about shedding who you used to be and the pain it takes to grow into someone else,” says Carlos. “This E.P is a hodgepodge of songs about grief, loss, self-awareness, reflection, nostalgia, and letting go, all in the theme of coming into the next best version of who you will be. I’m hoping these songs resonate with people who are on their own unique path of self-discovery and healing.”

Musically Identity Fading EP balances the brutal and the beautiful, blending chaotic metalcore with soaring vocals and huge hooks. Fans of The Amity Affliction, Atreyu, and A Day To Remember will enjoy the pop-tinged metalcore of Less Than None.

Connect With Less Than None:

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