Founded in 2018, PARALLAX have spent the last year writing and honing their sound in preparation for the debut EP, the self-titled "Parallax". Taking heavy influence from such bands as BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and KILL SWITCH ENGAGE, the "Parallax" more-or-less succeeds as a first-time release from an underground group. As with many debut EP's from newer bands, there is a level of polish that is inherently missing from the production. Unfortunately, this does not work in the bands favor. Despite this however, PARALLAX is still able to flex some muscle and crank out a few strong tunes showcasing some strong attributes and perhaps give us a glimpse at the band's future.

"Parallax EP" is made up of four tracks, "Everything", "End", "Hero", and "Hold On". While the opening song "Everything" gets things rolling with some catchy riff work on guitars, the second track "End" is where things get more interesting as the band displays some bone crushing moments and heavy shredding. "Hero" and "Hold On" are solid tracks each with catchy riffs that bounce, harmonize, and shred. Vocally, there is greater emphasis on catchy, sing along choruses and the scream-to-clean verse-to-chorus ratio is equally balance. The musicianship is solid, and guitarists John Isaac and Chris Andrews are pretty good at keeping songs moving with varying speeds and good solos.

As mentioned before the overall production could use some fine tuning, particularly on the vocals. It's fully understood that this is a debut EP, so the production is what you might expect from a band that has only been around for a year. In this instance, there are understandings and compromises taking place as a listener. Despite this however, throughout much of the experience the hollowness of the vocal production is distracting. Also, while the band can produce an occasional fun moment, from a purely metalcore standpoint, you're probably not going to be blown away what you hear. Its not bad song writing by any means, its just not pushing any boundaries, and may come across somewhat formulaic for some.

I don't want my negative opinions of the "Parallax EP" to distract the band from going on and continuing to write and create. I've listened to a lot of debut EPs over the years, and some are spectacular, and some are not. This is not a bad EP by any means, in fact I'd say 3 out of the 4 songs are solid and worth a spin. I just wish the production was able to help the band rather than hinder them. There is some good musicianship taking place on this EP, but overall, it's not an experience you're going to whip out your phone and quickly text your friends about.

Whether there is longevity to band is yet to be seen, but for now PARALLAX have shot a flair into the air, its now up to others to seek it out.