You're in My Nightmares - Escape Artists Never Die
Artist: Escape Artists Never Die
Track: You're in My Nightmares
Genre: Post-hardcore/Metal
Length: 4:54
Producer: Machine
Music by: Z. Hale, G. Silva
Lyrics by: Z. Hale
Label: Chaos Records
Californian post-hardcore quartet release debut single
Zac and Gio: Are those guitar necks or are you just happy to see us?Since becoming the winner of Chaos Records Basement Jam contest last month, an accolade that saw them pick up their first major label deal, there has been quite a buzz around Californian quartet Escape Artists Never Die. The band have managed to get social media chatting about them, get tongues wagging at shows across the world and have everyone asking the same question - when are they going to release some new music? The answer is now. And is it worth the wait? Hell yes! We may have had to wait, but this only proves that patience is a virtue that reaps rewards.
You're in My Nightmares is the first ever single release from LA's newest rock band - their only previous release was a short three track EP at the end of 2011 - and it shows us what has been missing from the alternative scene in the 21st century. Often mislabeled and dismissed as "emo", post hardcore is a genre that embraces metal and pop-punk in one massive hug that feels warm and brutal all at once. From the very first second of the track, when Gio Silva's roar rips through the silence, to the last second that the high complaining vocal of Zac Hale fades out, this is a joyously painful post hardcore track that has brought back the magic to a genre that has been flailing and failing since the demise of Finch.
Zac Hale is quoted recently as saying that emotion is the mother of all music, and his lyrics don't deviate from that. Clearly a song about break ups and lost love, EAND's debut is unashamedly sad and heartbreaking - something we can all empathise with, and a fact that only serves to draw the listener closer to ever pained wail from the talented frontman's skilled vocal chords. But this is no teenage angst garbage - oh no no. Behind that pain and lyrical drama there lies the two real gems of Escape Artists. One is the imagery. The idea that an ex can haunt our dreams forever is one I'm sure we're all familiar with in the aftermath of a breakup. The other crowning glory comes in the shape of the music. Did you expect some generic pop punk style? You couldn't have been more wrong. The guitars of Hale and Silva sing in harmony for the intricate opening, while the storming breakdown in the middle sounds as heavy and mosh-inducing as anything you will hear this year, as well as being perfectly contrasting to the soft and atmospheric verses. If I weren't very much mistaken, I'd suggest that this may be a bit of posturing and flexing from a band keen to show exactly what it is capable of.
In short, Escape Artists Never Die may have made us all wait longer than we might have wanted for their debut single to be released, but damn it is more than worth it. In a time when some may opt to be safe and feel vulnerable, this confident and talented LA four-piece has stood up and showed exactly what it can do. Not only do they already have the pace, energy, talent and vision to resurrect a genre that has spent a decade with one foot in the grave, they also have the opportunity to redefine it - to bring it into the 21st century - to make it their own. Ladies and gentlemen, tissues at the ready, Zac Hale and co are here to tug on your heart strings!
Band commentary with Zac Hale and Gio Silva (taken from the deluxe edition album)Zac: You....are...in my Nightmares....
Gio: I am? Oh, you mean the track. Thoughts on this one Zacky boy?
Zac: It's definitely one of my favourites out of the newer ones we've recorded. I think this was our big chance to show off a little bit and be more cocky than we have been in the past. It comes after an instrumental, and that lends itself to like bursting out of the traps screaming. I love the contrast between the big scream from you, and then the fast fiddly guitar bit, before it goes into that quiet first verse. It stands out a lot and I think lyrically it's one of our more clever tracks.
Gio: It's one of the songs that I think we judged on live performances above anything else. We first played it live in LA like.....April? Yeah April and by the time we got to the chorus like the third time, the crowd were singing it back at Zac, which was way cool. It's now a favourite with our live crowds, and it's certainly the sound we will be going for headed forward, I think. I love how distinctive it sounds. I always ask myself when we do a song "who does this sound most like? Who is influenced by?" And I honestly think this time around that there was no answer to that question. It just sounds like us.
Zac: This was the first time we stepped up to the plate and were like confident to break ties to a genre. We feel this can flit between an array of different styles quite easily because we weren't restricting ourselves in our thought process by boundaries that exist in post hardcore. It is definitively still post hardcore in my eyes, but absolutely it is different from anything we have ever done. I think that's why it had to be the first single from our first album.
Gio: For sure. Making this a single is like saying "here we are. The new us." It's an important step and one that we hope will pay off. At the end of the day, maybe no one will care, but we can only try our best and put what we do best out there, and hope that people like it. We love the song and now we are releasing it for everyone to hear.
Zac: Lyrically, I also think this is my most adventurous to date. I know people are gonna be all calling it emo and stuff because I'm singing about a breakup, but there's a lot more to it than that. I like the imagery of dreams and fear of the dark, and I think I manage to twist the notion of getting over someone around the way they haunt your dreams. No one has an easy break up, and I think this explores that notion, the way someone haunts you like a bad dream, and how that's a warped version of the way they used to exist in your sleep. Is it clever? I hope so. I like them anyway. Is it based on real events? I think it would be hard to write an emotional song that isn't. Like I say, we've all suffered in love and woken up in the night in tears because of an ex and the way they've raped their dreams. Even Gio, although he likes to act the bad-ass (laughs). However, we're rambling - this is You're in My Nightmares! Enjoy.
Short descriptionYou're in My Nightmares is the debut single release from Escape Artists Never Die, taken from their as of yet untitled debut album. The song is a post-hardcore/metal crossover with energy, punch and emotion that tells a tale of heartbreak and lost love. It begins with a slow "ohhhhhh" noise building louder and louder before a loud scream busts from nowhere, growling the first line of the track. From there, the guitars are fiddly and technically proficient, as well as catchy and memorable in the opening riff, showing how talented the band is, as well as defying their reputation as an emotional and dark band. Although their lyrics are deep, thoughtful, meaningful and sad at times, their songs are always high in energy and packing the sort of punch that would make any metal band proud, while also somehow retaining a pop-rock edge that leaves them just as open to casual fans and the mainstream. The verses of this track are slow and deliberate, while the choruses are atmospheric, large and emotional with their deliberate and punchy chords perfectly going hand in hand with Hale's slightly whiny yet wonderfully balanced voice, pained and filled with an emotion the listener cannot help but believe is genuine and real. The song is one that emphasises how genre-defining Escape Artists Never Die can be, looking to showcase the instrumental and vocal skills of the band as well as their ability to write a top tune.
LyricsBold + italics - Screaming - Gio SilvaBold - Clean vocals verse - Zac HaleNormal - Clean vocals pre-chorus - Zac Hale
Italics - Clean vocals chorus - Zac HaleAre you awake to drag me from this nightmare?I cannot shake this thought that I'm all alone
I hold my breath and feel my heart beat slow
The depth of darkness sends a chill to the bone
Why should I care, you've gone from love to foeAnd I miss your warmth in my arms
I bite my nails and stare into dark pools
I sense your eyes glaring back
Cos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream,
Hell without you, the only one who'd save me
Cos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream,
Heaven beside you, wishful fantasyOpened my eyes to check you're still not beside
So bittersweet I see your shadow stood close
Tears when I see it's a projection born inside
Thorns like these tainted, love like a rose And I don't need another deja vous
Another flash back, a flame from the past
Just drag me down into the fire
Cos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream,
Hell without you, the only one who'd save me
Cos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream,
Heaven beside you, wishful fantasyYou used to shake me out of terror
The heaven to pull me from another fearful dream
But this is a nightmare, not hell, in betweenI waited for the night to come when you'd crawl back
To beg, to say that you extinguished the fires and let me down from the rackCos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream,
Hell without you, the only one who'd save me
Cos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream,
Heaven beside you, wishful fantasyCos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream,
Hell without you, the only one who'd save me
Cos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream,
Heaven beside you, wishful fantasySaid do you remember, or think about me
Kept in the stocks, enveloped in rain
Cos this is a nightmare, that same darkened dream
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