Immerse are a UK based quartet announcing their 3rd full length album titled Energy. A highly fitting title for this work because the band have crafted a categorical homerun out of 10 songs that left me speechless and wondering why I hadn’t heard of them before now?
Opening track ‘False Energy’ is full of energy right off the bat. The immediacy of the vocal hooks are reminiscent of Linkin Park in that they make it clear what the melody is and to expect more and better very shortly. The song doesn’t linger and moves through some powerful riffs and gets back to the chorus post-haste. The tasty little Nintendo-core outro is just a cherry on top.
‘Everything’ keeps the hype energy up and packs a memorable chorus hook married with meaty riffs and some great metal-core elements to bring the intensity up. It’s a very strong 1-2 combo to kick off an album and where some bands might back off the gas for a beat after such a strong start, Immerse just keep the bangers barrelling down the line. ‘Freaky’ raises the tempo and has a decent mood lift to pair with the double time and half time drops. It’s at this point in the listen through that I really began to hone in on the production quality and how layered the textures are on this album. The guitars are enormous and well balanced sure…but behind that are extra synths and reverb-washes and sounds pinging back and forth. It’s not unlike some of the poppier moments in Bring Me The Horizon or Northlane’s material. Not quite electronic, but definitely leaning that way. It’s cool.
‘All I Know is You’ might feel like the first breath taken on the record with is more tempered pace and huuuuge melodic chorus coupled with the halftime drums and thick wall of guitars. Whilst it’s a song that stands out because it’s really well written and a different vibe from the avalanche of tracks that fell before it on the album, I cant help recognise this as well worn territory thanks to artists like Bad Omens who kind of dominated this sort of thing last year. This ould be the big gamble for Immerse, as they essentially wear their influences right out there on the sleeve. Listeners are either going to lap it up (because seriously, who doesn’t want more of a good thing?) or it’s going to suffer under the weight of comparisons.
The band recently dropped the single ‘Static’ which is one of the heavier cuts from the record. It’s a great introduction point for the band as it contains all the feature elements they incorporate on Energy into one track. The pay off comes towards the end in the form of a crushing breakdown …complete with blegh’s and chuggs that will turn mosh pits into blenders and really shines as a highlight. It’s hard to sit still through.
The production is peak, the songwriting is lean and refined to just the best bits, choruses come fast and frequently and there’s a new feature moment around every corner. Performances are tight and complimentary to each member and ultimately makes up a world class offering. This is an excellent record from the band and is almost guaranteed to find a home with any fan of this heavy/singalong/table-flipping style. Where I fear it may struggle is with that ‘heard it before’ mentality hurting their reach. Where it’s going to succeed is with fans of belting out tunes loud and proud in the car, in the audience and of course… similar artists. It’s just a rare occurrence that a band can match the quality of their contemporaries instead of sounding like a derivative of them. Bravo Immerse. You made me a fan.
