New Distances is the title of the Narrows record, and it opens up with a powerful track, titled “Chambered”. This song instantly brought back memories of me being 16 years old and discovering We Are The Romans by Botch for the first time. There’s just so much honest rage in the music, it’s hard not to feel at least a little pissed at something. In my case, it’s my coffee maker, which is currently spazzing out and not working. Track two, titled “Sea Witch” provides no break in the mayhem, as it’s just another testament to how good music can sound when talent meets true, honest emotion. Narrows isn’t just another Botch carbon copy, as you might be assuming from the first two songs on the record. New Distances is not just another mathcore record that should be tossed aside with yesterday’s garbage. These guys have somehow worked in what sounds like noise-rock(The Jesus Lizard, Melvins) and even some post-punk(Huskur Du, Crass) influences into one cognitive being. Just when you think you have the record figured out, songs like “A Restoration Effort” or “Marquis Lights” shake things up, and make you remember that you’re not listening to anything you’ve heard before. Every song has it’s own identity, and the haunting ability to drag you into the minds of the men who wrote it. In a few interviews with Dave Verellen that I’ve read, he said that the band wasn’t started to be the next “rockstars” of the heavy music scene. It was started strictly as a way to release worldly frustrations back into the world that created them. Listening to track 6, a slow and pulverisingly thick song titled “Newly Restored”, you can feel the raw intensity of every riff, every beat, in your very bones.

I feel that if the rest of the music world put as much heart and soul into each song as Narrows does, the term “bad album” would be eliminated. I’ll be the first to admit that I might be a little biased in my view of this band, because of my love of the acts that the members used to be a part of. However, after listening to it over and over, I’ve come to the conclusion that New Distances is it’s own, new breed of monster. I can honestly say that each member brings a valuable element to the table, whether it’s Dave’s ability to sound like a wild dog being pulled through a wood chipper, or the way Ryan Frederickson makes his guitar seem to grab you by the throat and shake you around. I strongly, and I mean STRONGLY, recommend this record if you’re a fan of any of the members’ previous bands, or even if you’d just like to expose yourself to something new and exciting. There’s something in New Distances for everyone, and as long as Narrows keeps putting out music like this, I’ll keep being amazed.