Stick To Your Guns have recently released their new EP titled “Better Ash Than Dust” on the 23rd of September via Pure Noise Records. Founded in 2003, Stick To Your Guns are a hardcore quintet from Orange County, CA. The band consists of Jesse Barnett (Vocals), Chris Rawson (Guitar), Josh James (Guitar), Andrew Rose (Bass) and George “Schmitty” Schmitz (Drums).
The first track, Better Ash Than Dust. It opens with Jesse’s very dark heavy vocals. The guitar riffs and drums make the beat very catchy, the drums make anyone want to head bang to the impressive beat of this opening verse. I really like Jesse’s vocal ability, he can go from something heavy to some melodic vocals.
Next up is Universal Language, this is by far my favourite track on the whole EP. Again, this song shows the contrast between Jesse’s Heavy dark vocals and his melodic vocals. The drums are very powerful which brings this track together. Jesse’s heavy vocals are very impressive, the lyrics are very catchy “you can’t bury me…in your disbelief”
The next track is No Tolerance, the first thing that hits you is the very heavy vocals from Jesse. The small guitar solos makes the impressive riffs clear and stand out as they’re very intense. After a few spins this track is very catchy. The pace of this track is fast and I’d love to see how this track sounds live.
The fourth track is The NeverEnding Story, I really like the opening drums as it brings energy to the track. Jesse’s melodic vocals in this track “All of this means nothing to me, I’m tired of suffering through all of everything” is very catchy and it gets stuck in my head really quick and I find myself singing it.
The final track on the EP is The Suspend, the track starts slower than the others which makes this song stand out a little from the rest of the EP. I enjoyed the part of the song “Until death relieves me” when the melodic, calm vocals and guitar are the main focus of the track which is a beautiful contrast to the heavier side of the song.
As a whole the EP comes together very nicely, the full EP definitely highlights Jesse’s very heavy vocals in contrast with the more melodic vocals seen in some of the tracks. This EP is full of tracks that will make you head bang and sing along after a few spins. This EP is definitely one to check out!