Portland, Oregon has a great rock scene bursting at the seams at the moment and The Without are another potential winner who have just dropped their debut EP ‘Factions’, a short 4 track teaser that will build to their eventual full length release.
The great thing about EP’s which has really become prominent for start up bands in recent years is that not only does it give the listener an easy sample of what the band have to offer but it also gives the band a chance to ease into the music scene without breaking their finances and allows the band to really hone in on what works for future recordings. The fact that The Without had written several more tracks which were not released here clearly shows they are on the right track with that point.
‘Faction’ is a somewhat mixed bag of modern alt and melodic rock songs that balance melody and gritty riffage well, giving listeners a bit of heaviness and catchy tunes to showcase their sound.
‘Dead Gold’ has a heavy groove that combines melodic verses with more harsher screaming vocal lines with some doomy elements thrown in later in the song before coming back to melodic harmonies. The punky ‘Play Tricks’ has melodic pop punk sensebilities with it’s hooky beats but it definitely has a more heavier approach than what pop punk usually offers.
The alt rocker ‘Rat ‘Party’ has a little Queens Of The Stone Age vibe, with a hooky riff that really grabs your attention as it rattles on through guitar driven melodies. ‘Two Wolves’ is probably the heavier of the 4 tracks on offer but is anthemic in nature, driven by big singalong parts that no doubt would go over well in a live setting.
‘Faction’ is a solid start for the veteran members of the new collective in The Without and that experience in musicianship and song writing has definitely proved positively for the band. Keep an eye on their next release which should capitalise on what they have started here.
