Indian alternative rock/alt metal outfit Alternative Ties have released their third official single, Reprisal.
Starting with the sound of footsteps over a wooden floor, Reprisal soon ignites with a nice guitar riff that introduces soothing, quiet vocals.
It is a bit of a step back from what I was expecting after the guitar lick, but it fits in well as the music pulls back into more of a slow-burning rock number that is definitely more on the radio-friendly side of things.
A cool guitar solo breezes in around the minute forty-eight-second mark, shredding beautifully and with purpose that gives the song a bit more starch. This lasts only fleetingly, however, as the quiet vocals usher in more of the steady musicality that swirls in circles without really going anywhere.
The vocals do grow on me as the song progresses, and I think it might be more due to what I was expecting rather than what I was given that I took a while to warm to the song.
At the 3-minute 30 mark, and out of nowhere, a harsher, rap-infused vocal breakdown adds a fresh take on things before a haunting guitar solo takes us in another direction. This is a wicked and certainly unpredictable changing of the sonic guard, and by the time the soft, clean vocals return they seem to fit in much better than before.
Another guitar solo chimes in, taking us to the song’s conclusion, and I find myself reflecting back on the song, and its many moving parts and coming to the conclusion it is much better than my expectational inner metalhead led me to initially believe.
