Review written by Glenn “Terra Shredder” Van Bockstaele.

Fractures & Outlines is a Canadian post-metalcore band founded in 2014. “Defenseless” is the band’s debut album, released independently and sent to us by our Canadian friends at Asher Media Relations. Merci!

The album begins with the highly energetic “End of the World.” It’s an upbeat tune with both clean high-pitched and scream vocals, catchy riffs and a motivational chorus about the fact that this is in fact NOT the end of the world. Quite a fun little twist, I must say. The next song, “Echoes” is more metalcore oriented with more screaming and grunting and harsher, faster beats as well as some nasty breakdowns. Then comes “Defenseless” which strikes more of a balance between the uplifting tunes of the album’s first track and the harsher parts of the second. In addition, “Defenseless” has an intimate acoustic version at the end of the album, right after “Swallowing Teeth.”

The album’s fourth track, “Mirrors” is a true headbanger with a mesmerizing chorus, great drum work and very convincing vocals both in clean and scream departments. Then “Ouragan” enters the fray which showcases some beautiful guitar work and it’s a sweet sing-along track overall. This excellent guitar shredding and anthem feel continue in the next song, “Over My Head.” However, this song does include a sudden and badass hardcore breakdown in the middle part! The album’s seventh track, “The Oppressor” is pure metalcore with plenty of melody and in which both vocalists scream their fucking lungs out! After that vicious blasting track things cool down with “Spades” featuring acoustic guitars, soft drums and relaxed vocals. And finally the aforementioned “Swallowing Teeth” provides one final epic metalcore breakdown before the album wraps up.

Fractures & Outlines music contains a lot of influences from the various metalcore scenes with some nasty breakdowns in between. The vocals give me a huge nostalgic feel because it reminds me of the period when the screamo genre was born with bands like Escape The Fate and Killswitch Engage. Back in the day screamo was about heartache and broken hearts but not for these guys, instead they scream about taking your life back into your own hands! The vastly distinct vocal styles from Nick and Fretch feature plenty of chemistry, this along with the very melodic sound of Fractures & Outlines serve as the major standout elements of their music.

Overall, Fractures & Outlines debut album provides a more than enjoyable throwback to old-school metalcore and screamo but with their more varied and melodic sound and optimistic lyrics they do add an energetic breath of fresh air to both subgenres. Here’s “Defenseless.”

85/100