Review of Rising Alma - Your Own Story
I'll admit it - I expected this to be another polished melodic hard rock EP that would sound pleasant enough while it was playing and disappear from memory twenty minutes later. There are plenty of releases like that. Good musicians, clean production, decent choruses... and absolutely nothing pulling me back for another listen.
That didn't happen here.
Not because Your Own Story is packed with huge surprises. It isn't. Rising Alma stay fairly close to familiar territory. The interesting part is how relaxed everything feels. Nobody seems desperate to prove they're heavier than the next band or more emotional than everyone else. They simply let the songs unfold.
I caught myself paying more attention to the vocals than the guitars, which isn't usually the case. Alise Elme doesn't attack every line as if she's auditioning for a talent show. There's confidence there, but also restraint. Some singers leave the impression they're trying to impress the listener. She sounds more interested in telling the story than stealing the spotlight, and that changes the atmosphere of the whole EP.
It's funny, because the guitars are actually doing quite a bit underneath. They're never flashy, rarely trying to dominate, but they quietly shape the mood from one song to the next. A lot of modern hard rock throws riffs at you every thirty seconds. Rising Alma don't seem particularly interested in that game.
The EP also avoids something that's become surprisingly common: forcing every chorus to become an anthem. A few melodies slipped into my head after I'd stopped listening, but none of them arrived with a giant neon sign saying, "Remember me!" They just stayed there. That's usually a better sign.
I went back to the record the following day to see if the first impression had been misleading. It wasn't. If anything, I liked it more once I stopped expecting some dramatic payoff. The songs don't build towards a single explosive moment. They just keep their footing all the way through, and sometimes that's enough.
That doesn't mean I'd call the EP flawless. There were moments where I found myself wishing the band would loosen the reins a little. They have enough chemistry to take bigger chances than they do here. Every now and then I wanted a riff to run a little longer, a bridge to drift further away before returning, or the guitars to become just a little rougher around the edges.
Then again, maybe that's not what this band is trying to achieve.
One thing I appreciated was the absence of empty drama. The lyrics deal with personal struggles, identity and change, but they never feel like they're asking for sympathy. That's a surprisingly difficult balance to strike. Plenty of bands write about emotional subjects. Far fewer manage to do it without sounding theatrical.
By the time Endless faded out, I realised I hadn't spent the last half hour thinking about genres at all. Was it melodic hard rock? Alternative rock? Modern rock? Honestly, it stopped mattering somewhere in the middle of the EP. I was simply listening to five well-written songs that knew exactly how much they wanted to say - and, more importantly, when to stop.
Your Own Story probably won't be the loudest release you'll hear this year, nor the most adventurous. I don't think it wants to be either. What it offers instead is something that's becoming oddly uncommon: songs that feel genuine, played by musicians who trust them enough not to bury them under unnecessary tricks. I found myself pressing play again almost immediately after it ended.
Thanks to Grand Sounds PR!
