If Stories’ debut holds the key to ‘The Youth to Become’, then while it may sound brutal at times, there’s a little too much copy-and-pasting going on.

Rules are made to be broken. Metalcore’s been chomping at the bit for far too long, sticking itself on the never-ending airport carousel only to then question where it was going in the first place. Enter Sydney’s angry quintet Stories, charged to the brim with the influences of their metalcore colleagues, wading through the ocean of same-old and almost drowning in it as a consequence.

From the lulling opener of ‘State of Intermittence’, Stories immediately bark back a statement of chaotic intent, but soon the echoing and atmospheric opening notes lose their novelty. Rage bubbles under the surface in ‘A False Sense of Security’ and ‘Highwater’, but often fails to reach its boiling point, courting echoes of Bring Me The Horizon’s brand of vengeance instead of using their evident talent to innovate a new path.

“This room is making me nauseous,” screams out the energised first half of ‘For a Second… I Couldn’t See a Thing’ before abruptly descending into what can only be described as the aural representation of boredom. Unfortunately, their greyscale repetition of metalcore stereotypes emerge all too obviously, namely the Architects dupe ‘The Golden Thread’ followed by a more brazen copy in ‘Under Haze’’s line “we are all lost together.” On top of that, the album could well do without snore-fests ‘Shadow Window’ and ‘One-hundred Percent Grey’ which distance their talent behind a mire of pretty pointless instrumentals.

That being said, there are a number of moments where frontman Morgan Dodson‘s fundamental devastation lurking behind every note leap-frogs over the competition. The larger-than-life heartbreak of ‘Alone in the Fallout’ stands proud as an album highlight, introducing its deep reflection to a centrifugal lyrical devastation to create a welcome concoction of vocal vitriol and instrumental heaviness. The venomous and driven ‘Zuko’ comes a close second, commanding attention with a natural authority known only to the serious screaming contenders in the business.

It’s a shame Stories haven’t made a spectacular tidal wave with this debut album, especially when it’s evident they have plenty of potential gasping for air under the weight of their predecessors. ‘The Youth to Become’ is largely a decent showcase of their talent, but there’s a lot more due from them in the years to come.

3/5

’The Youth to Become’ by Stories is out now on UNFD.

Stories links: Facebook|Bandcamp

Words by Ali Cooper (@AliZombie_)