Look, we experienced the Nu-Metal age firsthand as both a Heavy music fan and as a retail warrior in a record store during that time and was able to take advantage (Read: Take home) of the seemingly abundance of promos about to be tossed by higher ups so we will always have a special place in our hearts for a lot of what came out of that scene… In fact, we still do.
The good thing about this next wave (Seriously, who saw that coming???) is that it’s all that fantastic underground stuff that may have been overlooked the first time out getting their very own comeback and it’s bands like Bristol, UK’s Profiler who are proudly carrying that torch with their own take on some forgotten greats.
If we were to attempt to find a middle ground of what Profiler is all about sound-wise then try taking the big grooves that Darwin’s Waiting Room folded into their heaviness, the melodic mayhem that Five Pointe O spewed forth throughout Untitled, and a little of that Vex Red earnestness wrapped within a sonic maelstrom and you might just have the faintest inkling what Profiler bring to the table on their new full-length, A Digital Nowhere.
Then there’s opener “All In Forever” which we think covers all of that nicely but then adds some monster-sized Meshuggah guitar madness and basically all bets are off. “Artifice” adds in the turntables to the fretboard wizardry that guitarist/vocalist Mike Evans displays with vocals soaring amidst the boom that Joe Johnson and Brad Ratcliffe’s bass and drums bring. “Delay” is large and in charge capturing that late ’90’s/early ’00’s Nu-Metal era feel so perfectly while “Animo” shows off Evans’ vocal flow throughout this particularly beats and bass heavy number.
“To Utopia” begins with a beastly gallop of riffs and sticks with Evans’ subdued croon swaying between a dynamic Hip-Hop feel and a raging monstrous howl and then “Zero” keeps the magic momentum flowing on this technical triumph filled with start/stop riffage, big bass bombast, and some overall Rap/Rawk excellence. “Zero” charges forth from that with a Nu-Djent fusion, “Operator” merges anthems with some undeniable heaviness, and “Consumed” is a surprisingly sobering sonic soliloquy. Later still, “The Living Receiver” offers a rollicking response to “Consumed” with “Sequence” wrapping things up quite nicely in this moody atmospheric excursion that still retains all the Heavy displayed up until now.
A Digital Nowhere drops on February 16th through SharpTone Records. You can get both your pre-save AND pre-order on now by heading here. For more from Profiler, follow them across their socials by clicking here, here, or here.