Pleiades – If Your Roots Run Deep, You Can’t Fear The Wind | EP Review

Post-hardcore quintet Pleiades explore their hometowns on their latest EP which balances intimate storytelling and expansive, ambitious songwriting.

Rising from humble beginnings, Manchester based Pleiades have quickly cemented themselves as one of the UK’s most vital up-and-coming alternative voices. On their latest EP If Your Roots Run Deep, You Can’t Fear The Wind, the band return to their respective hometowns around the UK for a personal experience full of the same intricate musicianship as their previous work.

Rather than gently build up tension, Pleiades dive into the deep end on the EP’s heaviest material with opener ‘SK4/SK7 (Seek Kindness/Safe Keeping), a frantic blend of sounds borrowed from At The Drive In and Thrice. Frontman Andy Calderbank barges his way to the forefront of the track with ferocious staccato screams which offer a perfect counterpoint to the guitar riffs which jump from bouncing swancore style noodling to bell-like clean harmonics. By flying out of the gate with the EP’s most chaotic and urgent track, Pleiades grab the listener’s attention, ready to carry them through the slower burning work later on.

The precarious balance of oppressive heaviness and gentle melodies creates a fascinating back and forth throughout Pleiades’ work, this dynamic works its way into every crevice of If Your Roots Run Deep. While the track ‘CV5 (Constant Variation)’ opens with a less intense clean guitar line and soft, breathy vocals, the layers quickly build up to a fierce blackgaze inspired finale, similarly ‘LA1 (Left Aimless)’ builds up from a lush post-rock style intro dripping with subtle ambience to an intricate Tesseract style progressive metal peak complete with a soaring guitar solo. Whereas plenty of other bands build their songs around a similar back and forth between heavy and delicate sounds, Pleiades work this sonic seesaw into everything they do, bringing an equal amount of passion to both sides of the coin.

Closing track ‘YO31 (Years Overnight)’ takes Pleiades’ sound in an experimental new direction, focusing more on building deep layers of atmosphere than hard-hitting riffs. Clouds of swirling synths and chopped up vocal samples create immersive waves of ambience over intermittent guitar strums and drum beats completely at odds with the immediate, post-hardcore focused intro track. At just over two minutes this track acts more like a quiet epilogue than an explosive finale but still gives a unique glimpse into the expansive world that Pleiades craft.

From soaring ambience to dense, brutal metal, Pleiades take the listener on a journey through a wide range of styles that they pull off with ease. If Your Roots Run Deep, You Can’t Fear The Wind gives Pleiades a simple and personal prompt which they take and create something special with.