PERCEPTION are a Tech-influenced Metalcore outfit from The United Kingdom, formed in 2012, in the city of Southampton. They debuted with this 5 track EP, "Monolith", on which I shall be giving you my thoughts today.

What sticks out the most is the band's overall musical style and direction. Granted that they're technically third-wave Metalcore, they have basically no Emo elements in the music, especially with the vocals, which are somewhere between typical Post-Hardcore screams and basic Metal-mids; no "I want to kill myself motherfuckers" screeching (e.g. ESKIMO CALLBOY).

No, they're a fairly unique Tech-Metalcore band, with influences from bands such as ARCHITECTS, UNDEROATH, and I also hear a bit of Tech-Death inspired instrumentation on the first two tracks. So if you hate stuff like ASKING ALEXANDRIA, PIERCE THE VEIL, ATTACK ATTACK! etc. this EP will be quite enjoyable for you.

As for the music itself, the amount of control they have over their harsher and softer sides is awesome. While the screaming easily outclasses the clean vocals, the dynamic and chemistry between them (and the softer guitars) is just...organic and very human. The album for the most part lacks choruses and is very non-linear with its songwriting and has some pretty cool ideas; I especially liked the way "Survive" follows "Defy Dismay", it's is awesome. It basically finishes what the latter started in its last seconds, and then progresses that into the former song itself - interesting approach I must to say. The title-track however is probably the worst one on the record, and the least-creative song. It doesn't even try to bring anything interesting or new to the table. The whole track is just a poor man's TONY DANZA TAPDANCE EXTRAVAGANZA song.

BUT

The following and last songs are the absolute BEST. The perfectly titled "Closure" is really emotional, and is based around mixing Ben Clark's intense vocals (mostly clean), with soft guitars and the drumming that take a respecful bow in the background. Sure, it's not a revolutionary idea, but I never actually heard it executed better than here. It also sounds a lot less weird than you may think.
So, in conclusion, this EP is easily worth its 19 minutes. Nothing epic, but a fairly original and very promising up-and-coming Metalcore band with a really solid debut. I'll probably remember to check out their next work, which is a much bigger compliment than it sounds coming from me.