RISING INSANE

Northern Germany's RISING INSANE are evolving. The band crafts straight-ahead rock that's catchy, engaging and heavy enough to appease metal fans but tuneful enough to attract more casual rock listeners. Working the circuits for years, they released their debut album, "Nation", in 2017 as an independent release and started touring hard. Things took a turn for the better when they performed at the 2019 Impericon Festival and signed to Long Branch Records. Releasing their debut "Porcelain", in November of 2019, they stayed active throughout the pandemic by releasing new music.

Now, RISING INSANE have returned with "Wildfires". While band members have always been known for their post-hardcore and metalcore sound, "Wildfires" presents a slightly different style. They still have those post-hardcore and metalcore roots, but "Wildfires" is more commercially viable than what they've released in the past.

"Reign", the album's opening statement, makes for a rousing start, with driving rhythms and an anthemic chorus, showing off Aaron Steineker's clean singing and screaming abilities, plus some wild guitar passages from Sven Polizuk and Florian Köchy. What's intriguing is that while most of the song sounds mainstream and radio-friendly, the breakdown is totally bonkers and noisier than anything you'll hear on rock radio.

"Monster" follows, bringing a delicate introduction and catchy electronic beats which give way to a guitar-heavy chorus and clean vocals. In the second verse, Steineker amps things up with some screaming. The song's '80s electronic vibe and Steineker's mix of clean and screamy vocals give it an AFI vibe, which may seem like an odd comparison, but it's there.

Listening to songs such as "Lighthouse", "Warning", "Carousel" and "Bet on Me", it becomes more apparent that RISING INSANE are embracing this sort of emo-meets-metalcore sound, with clean singing in the anthemic choruses and some screaming accents where appropriate. Bands such as THE USED and SAOSIN come to mind.

One of the best aspects of "Wildfires" is its variety. Bands such as RISING INSANE often skip the ballads, but boy, do they deliver with the emotive "The Door", which is stripped down for most of the song and showcases Steineker's ability to really emote. "Burn" is one of the heaviest songs on the set, with completely explosive guitars and deadly screaming from Steineker.

"Wildfires" delivers an exciting, heavy set of music that keeps the listener engaged throughout. It's their strongest and most ambitious collection of songs yet and will hopefully inspire them to further experiment with their sound on the next release.