On its debut EP for Fiddler, Salem presents a particularly angular take on melodic post-hardcore made all the more memorable by mold-breaking vocals. While bombastic drum fills, hammer-down riffs, and heart-squeezing choruses are never very far away, great cuts like "Smoke and Mirrors" and "Aphrodite's Tears" burn the opposite end of that splintered match with off-kilter, careening guitars that clamor closer to the air-raid urgency of At the Drive-In. Most of Salem is familiar with this territory -- the band formed from the ashes of As Friends Rust, when that group's singer parted ways with his mates. Reconstituting around the fractured and fabulous cry of rookie vocalist Adam D'Zurilla, the Salem unit isn't afraid to suspend the usual screed in order to showcase his striking singing. He too breaks the genre mold, eschewing the tired whisper-to-a-scream style in favor of a strained, weirdly soulful vocal-cord twist recalling both Roland Orzabal and Guy Picciotto. "Confession"'s introspective verses give way like caving walls to mounting and morphing chorus harmonies, while "Brighton by the Sea" features shifting time signatures and multiple layers of guitar. Some of this might not be as exciting if it weren't tied to D'Zurilla's vocals. But Salem seems to understand this, and stakes out a balance between his mike presence and the band's fiery instrumental existence.
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