ALBUM REVIEW: With Sails Ahead – Infinite Void

’…a collection of tracks with plenty of character and heart, alongside plenty of hooks and complexity…’

New Jersey five-piece With Sails Ahead have, at long last, gifted the world their debut full-length record. The post-hardcore outfit have been releasing music since 2016, which is 8 long years ago now, and in that time have built up not just a solid following, but a solid community of fellow bands to work alongside. That hard work certainly pays off here, with ‘Infinite Void’ being a very commendable debut release.

Certainly, for fans of post-hardcore, there is plenty to enjoy here. Complex guitar passages that interact with one another in interesting ways, jazzy percussive rhythms that frequently switch the beat up, and chunky breakdown sections to provide some much needed brutal contrast to the complexity. However, the band make a conscientious effort to bring in pop-tinged melodies and hooks to keep things feeling substantial, fresh, and fun.

The album is structured in an interesting manner; at a lengthy 44 minutes, with 13 tracks, the band have their work cut out for them to ensure the listener remains attentive and engaged, and for the most part, the band pull it off with style. Three of these tracks do serve more as pseudo-interludes, as opposed to standalone songs; ‘every day the sky falls’, ‘what if i fall’, and ‘is this really it?’ are built with the instrumental complexity of the rest of the record, but are stripped back in terms of lyrical content.

However, there is nothing stripped back about the rest of the record. With Sails Ahead have produce post-hardcore banger after post-hardcore banger here, with a real focus on perfectly blending their progressive complexities with pop dynamism. The big singles from the album, ‘Swear Words’ and ‘Darting Eyes’ are both stand-out tracks simply in terms of how purely fun they are to listen to, especially the latter. ‘Honey’ packs a great feature from the Virginia genre-crushers themselves Pulses.,

Vocalist Sierra Binodo is a particularly compelling figure in this regard. Her clean vocals are passionate and energetic, managing to weave catchy passages with impressive vocal power and dynamic delivery. Her screamed vocals, however, are even more impressive; there’s a grit and ferocity which is unexpected, and adds real bite to the heavier sections of the album.

It actually would be nice to hear more from the band’s heavier side; these sections are woven into the album in a manner that keeps it feeling cohesive and sparkling, but it is easy to imagine that With Sails Ahead could produce a truly brutal hardcore track if they were to fully lean into it. However, what is here is certainly nothing to complain about, with ‘Oblivion’ packing a breakdown that puts some of the heavier acts out there to shame.

A debut record should set the tone for what a project is all about, and ‘Infinite Void’ does just that. This is a collection of tracks with plenty of character and heart, alongside plenty of hooks and complexity, letting you know exactly what With Sails Ahead are all about; a strong foundation for wherever the band seeks to progress to next, and a record that was well worth the wait.

RATING: 76/100 – Mostly Very Good

For Fans Of: Pulses., Royal Coda, Followship, Fauxtrot, Icarus The Owl

Physical copies of the album are available to purchase here.

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify // Twitter