As well as being almost unGoogle-able, Stories are the latest act to emerge from Australia’s thriving metal scene.
Their debut is a meandering, aggressive yet sometimes ambient album shot through with touches of prog. The band’s penchant for straying from traditional rhythms and structures is obvious from the start; opener A False Sense Of Security is a snarled rant over a persistent bassline, punctuated with unpredictable riffs.
Stories aren’t big on melody, but they do have their mellow moments – Alone In The Fallout is the first wistful track, and gives vocalist Morgan Dodson a chance to show his reverb-heavy clean vocals.
By this point, though, each song is blending into the next and the interest doesn’t peak again until Zuko, which sees the band living up to its name to tell the story of a protagonist estranged from their family. The Youth… isn’t strong enough to win Stories new fans, but for those already interested in cerebral metalcore, it’ll do.
