Collide With the Sky

The San Diego post-hardcore quartet Pierce the Veil displays remarkable growth and maturity in its musicianship here—especially when compared to early recordings by Before Today, the earlier project in which brothers Victor Fuentes (guitar and vocals) and Mike Fuentes (drums) cut their teeth. *Collide with the Sky* opens with “May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight.” A gradual build of haunting ambience ushers in bassist Jaime Preciado’s distant screaming over Spanish guitar arpeggios, all recorded with low fidelity. But then the production opens up, bringing everything to the forefront as “Hell Above” properly sets the tone with complex arrangements and Victor’s androgynous voice pumping out barbed melodies. Sleeping with Siren’s Kellin Quinn lends his boyish vocals to the outstanding “King for a Day,” which plays with all the sophisticated complexity of *2112*-era Rush while adhering to post-hardcore contrast of melodic singing and feral screaming. “Bulls in the Bronx” is another notable song, pulsing with catchy punk-pop melodies while maintaining those prerequisite temper tantrums of post-adolescent angst.

Following their 2010 release Selfish Machines, San Diego hardcore quartet Pierce the Veil returned with Collide with the Sky in the summer of 2012. This full-length was Pierce the Veil's third studio album as well as their first for Fearless Records, following the release of their first two albums on long-running punk and hardcore label Equal Vision. The album incorporates more than one duet between high-pitched vocalist Vic Fuentes and other peers from the post-hardcore scene. The first single, "King for a Day," features guest vocals from Kellin Quinn from Sleeping with Sirens, and "Tangled in the Great Escape" features Jason Butler from Letlive.