{"id":72230,"date":"2018-11-07T16:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=72230"},"modified":"2018-11-05T21:19:41","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T21:19:41","slug":"review-shvpes-greater-than","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-shvpes-greater-than\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: SHVPES – Greater Than"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The journey that SHVPES<\/b> have been on to reach this point has been anything but smooth. Their debut \u2019Pain. Joy. Ecstasy. Despair.\u2019<\/i> was a good start overall, but ultimately felt like a band struggling to find their feet, something that only felt more apparent by the choice to scrap their series of mixtapes to instead release \u2019Greater Than\u2019<\/i> as one album. It could be a better move for them, but it\u2019s hard not to imagine they\u2019re the actions of a band unsure of what they\u2019re getting into and looking to buy as much time as possible.<\/p>\n

However, \u2019Greater Than\u2019<\/i> definitely feels like a more sure-footed follow-up, opting for a stronger dose of nu-metal bounce in their metalcore for a better sense of groove and movement. It helps that Griffin Dickinson can hit that Jacoby Shaddix-esque versatility in his vocals, striking the natural balance between swaggering half-raps and hard rock singing on tracks like \u2019Someone Else\u2019<\/i>. Coupled with a meatier, grimier guitar tone and an invaluable dose of star power from Trivium\u2019s Matt Heafy on \u2019Rain\u2019<\/i>, and it feels like SHVPES<\/b> have hit something that\u2019s more of their own.<\/p>\n