Founded in 2008 from Kavala, Greece is ABOVE US THE WAVES. This five-piece melodic hardcore band recently signed with Growl Records a division of ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records and released "Rough On High Seas" in June of 2018. They released their debut album "Anchors Aweigh" in 2013. If you are expecting the music to be of the genre the band lists and the label lists that refers to them as melodic death metal, you are going to be about as wrong as I was. Dead give away for the correct genre is in the bands' name. Similar bands would be BRING ME THE HORIZON, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, even UPON A BURNING BODY. This is a metal-core band.

"Rough on High Seas" covers a lot of bases, however. Offering vocal styles that are metal-core, screamo, and melodic. The music has a solid d-tuned low end that offers sporadic technical breakdowns, but the main focus is the grooves. Executed with complete accuracy, which is good, however, they do stay in that comfort zone and don't venture too far from it. "Afterlife", a single release, is the bands best foot forward. Heavy enough to fuel teenage angst and a touch of sensitivity to make the girls dig it. "Seaside Junk" begins with a rock groove, very commercially likable. Vocals are an in-between of spoken. grunted, screamed, and the occasional fill of "Ough." Of course, the chorus is clean and melodically sung. This track is very similar to something you would expect to hear from IN FLAMES as they transitioned from the screaming to the clean vocals. The strangest part is that at times it feels as though it was either recorded or mixed at different times and someone forgot the settings. The lead vocals are pretty loud and above the mix and the clean vocals kind of drop back.

"Homefront" displays how to just scream like you don't care. While some will argue you cant scream in key. Yes, you can. During the verse, it seemed as if there was no rhyme or reason. It was just, unleashed. The capture of a raw tangent moment. Overall, "Rough on High Seas" is lyrically strong and intelligently delivered The music posses a strong groove and in this instance, the rhythm is the lead. If you saw these guys open for A DAY TO REMEMBER or BRING ME THE HORIZON you wouldn't be disappointed. ABOVE US THE WAVES is a melodic metal-core band. When placed into that genre, they match perfect and have all the desired traits. The sound quality is pretty good on desktop, better in the car. Aside from the weird vocal volumes. Everything is crisp and clear. The album is good, but in the end of it, it is the same song over and over. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to walk away from if you saw them at a show.