Project 86 is a band I’ve been with for a very long time. By with I mean following of course. Even now, when the band’s sole core member is Andrew Schwab, they have retained their classic sound. Knives to the Future is at once fresh and classic.
I have the sense that Project 86 might be done with the radical changes from record to record. Now that they are using crowd funding, there may be a certain expectation they feel obligated to meet. With Knives to the Future they do a very good job at staying with the familiar paradigm that fans love, yet coming up with insightful, catchy songs.
The biggest change that we hear is in the guitar work – Darren King of The Overseer is working the frets this time around in the studio. He is very influenced by Underoath – a feature that emerges with passion and continues with ferocity throughout the record.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3WTc6Q2wIc[/youtube]Knives to the Future has that same feel at times that Underoath’s Lost in the Sound of Separation has. It’s a dark sounding record that ended up defining the fall of my sophomore year in college. Perhaps this record will define this time of year for me down the road. Too soon to tell, but the brooding nature of the album and the slight shift from soaring tunes to a more cohesive sound is making me incline that direction.
The title track is by far the most catchy of the album, with its ever-so-slight industrial vibe and excellent drum work. Synths make a comeback, although definitely not in the 80s-esque way that emerged during the Rival Factions era. That isn’t to say that other tracks don’t stand out though – the reverb-y “Ambigram” for example (it feels so nice to use that adjective on a non post punk/dream/psych record, for once!). The pensive, melodic “Oculus” is about as long of a closer that I’ve ever heard from Project.
Listening to Knives to the Future isn’t as jarring as the title might suggest, though the record is very loud and heavy. At times I feel like I’m standing in a long underground tunnel, other times in the pit of a dive bar at a rock show. Project 86 keeps their feet firmly planted on the path they’re familiar with, though they stop several times to take in the scenery.
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