Leaders - Indomitable

I had mixed feelings about Leader's debut, Now We Are Free. It was a nice hardcore record with some solid melodic moments. But it was very catchy or a record you could sing-a-long to. It was just another hardcore record. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing special.

Indomitable still has similar hardcore elements. But instead of being a hardcore record with great melodic elements, Indomitable is a hardcore record that has a lot of deathcore influence. Which saddens me. It's not that I hate or dislike Indomitable, it's just not the direction I had hoped to see Leaders go.

Hell, the album's first single and opening track, is a smack in the face of the new stylings from Leaders. A lot of people will probably talk about how brutal and heavy it is. And it is heavy. Dark eerie ambient bass riff to open the song before a monster break down rips the song open. Yes, the hardcore influence is in there when the verse hits but the breakdowns on the "hook" and scattered throughout the song become tiresome quick.

Weak Minds grabbed my attention and gave me a glimmer of hope. The song hits with a fast paced intensity that reminded me of The Famine's brilliant record, The Architects of Guilt. The solo isn't anything to write home about the song is great until the breakdown comes tramping along at the end of the track. Still my favorite song on Indomitable.

There's a lot of hardcore, death metal, and deathcore influence on the record. Even some hints at nu-metal (Underdogs). There are some genuinely solid moments on Indomitable (I Know You, Weak Minds, My Home). But there's just something generic and stuck about Indomitable that prevents it from ever being truly great. It's a record I've heard before. A lot. And After Now We Are Free, I thought Leaders could build on what they did and deliver something fresh and interesting. But Indomitable seems like a misguided step sideways. Not terrible in any sense. Just not all that interesting and compelling.